An Anthology of Sorts (SSMonth16)
by AkaruiMirai
Summary: Once again celebrating SasuSaku Month! This would be my second year writing for this couple. Based on a list of prompts from Tumblr. May you enjoy the stories written! Day 21: Anonymous; Sakura has a secret admirer and it isn't Sasuke.
1. Demon Meets Witch

A/N: Happy SasuSaku Month, you guys! It's been a year, but I'm back with more stories! I do hope that you people like it!

I appreciate reviews and comments so that I can better myself. But please, no flames. Thank you and please enjoy yourself!

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

* * *

 _ **DAY 1: Necromancer**_

* * *

Something was definitely up; she could feel the magic in her blood shifted uneasily. Jade green eyes peered around the marketplace, searching for anything that could give her a clue as to why she was feeling agitated. Her eyes found nothing, nothing that could indicate danger. She'd brushed off the feeling for now; she'll conduct a search when she was back in the safety of her own home. Paying for the eggs, she flashed the stall owner a smile as thanks and made her way to the next stall. She needed to get lavenders but they were already out of season; thankfully she knew someone who could help her. Walking as quickly as possible, she made it to the flower shop of one Yamanaka Ino. To her surprise, Ino was already making her way towards her,

"Sakura, you're here!" Ino called and picked up the hem of her dress to speed up. Sakura smiled and raised her hand to call out in reply when she saw the look of distress on Ino's face. Her hand fell back down in worry just as Ino reached her,

"Sakura, we're in danger! We need to leave this village at once!" Ino whispered frantically into Sakura's ear. Sakura's eyes widened, Ino was already pulling her through the flower shop, towards a room at the back of the shop. The main door shut tightly behind them, the "closed" sign set firmly in place. In the privacy of the room, Sakura finally found her voice,

"Ino, what is going on? Tell me, please." She begged her friend. Ino was busy laying out all of her possessions onto a table where a magic circle was drawn. Ino spared her a glance before she activated the circle and had her belongings whisked away to another location,

"I was tarot reading when I saw it. The king, he had sent out orders for a witch hunt. Apparently, they found out that a witch had poisoned the crown prince." Ino explained. Sakura gasped in shock, and Ino continued,

"He's fine now, and the witch was executed; but His Majesty's flames of anger have yet to be extinguished. So now, he's conducting a nationwide witch hunt to get rid of us "Whores of the Devil" His words, not mine." Ino rolled her eyes as she started drawing another magic circle on the floor. She was acting tough but Sakura knew that Ino was worried, if the tell-tale sign of her hands shaking minutely was saying anything.

"Ino, how long do we have before they reach this village?" Sakura asked as she felt her gut clenched uneasily. Their village was the nearest one to the main kingdom. Ino shook her head, her blonde hair sweeping from side to side, as she finished the last few details of the circle,

"We don't have much time. The soldiers will be reaching this village soon. I've sent Shikamaru to the edges of the village as lookout so that he can warn me when they're here." Ino stood up, clapping her hands together to get rid of the chalk on her hand. She turned towards Sakura,

"I'll be waiting for you at Mountain Peak in a week. I have to warn our sisters from the other villages. We'll be fine if we stick together. As long as we head north towards the great fields, we'll be fine." Ino pushed Sakura into the middle of the circle that she had just drawn,

"Use this transportation circle to get back home. Send all your belongings to storage once you get home. And for goodness sake, get yourself a familiar! You'll need to get one if you want to get out of this alive." Ino advised as Sakura activated the transportation circle. Sakura nodded,

"Ino, I'll see you soon. Take care of yourself!" Sakura called out as she faded out of the room.

Sakura stumbled out of the transportation circle that was drawn in her home. She worriedly peered out of her window and sighed in relief as the woods near her home was still quiet and peaceful. She bustled around, setting up a circle to transport her belongings to storage. She knew that she was neck deep in trouble; the village knew her as a medicine woman who was able to cure almost all types of sickness. It wasn't long before they pieced two and two together when the soldiers arrived and lead them to her home. As she worked, she pondered over Ino's advice to sign a contract with a familiar. She had never needed one before as she could communicate with the forest and get herself out of trouble. But then again, she wasn't being hunted then either. Sakura sighed, as she get about, setting up the required apparatus and materials. She hadn't done anything like this in her life; she was going to have to be focused. Reading from the spell book her mother had left her, Sakura began the summoning.

She had read the incantations needed and offered the necessary ingredients; it was now the last stage of the summoning. As she peered over the line of words, she took the ashes of the burnt ingredients and used it to draw the familiar's symbol over her heart. _'Are all familiars' symbols this elaborate?'_ She mused, her eyebrows pinched together in concentration.

"Can't make a single mistake or the spell won't work." She muttered in annoyance.

The sounds of barking jolted her in surprise and she looked around and cursed. The villagers were near her home now! She had been too engrossed in the spell to notice the woods warning her of the villagers' approach. She wanted to cry out,

"Shit, they're almost here! It is alright, it is going be okay. There's just one step left." She muttered, eyes rapidly skimming the sentence.

"A single drop of your blood is-" the sentence seemed to continue on the next page so Sakura flipped the page of the book… only to cry out in alarm when she found it blank.

"The page is blank?! Why is it blank?!" Sakura cried out, almost in hysterics. What kind of incomplete spell book was this?! She was going to curse the author to hell and back!

She sensed the villagers nearing her home; it was way too close for comfort. There was no time to fret; she needed to get out of here! She tossed the useless spell book together with her belongings and activated the transportation circle, sending them to storage. She pulled on her cloak and was about to head to her own transportation circle when the door of her home burst open.

"There she is! The witch is trying to get away!" The villagers yelled. Sakura hurried towards the circle when she felt arms pulling her back into the vicious mob. She struggled but it was no use, against them all, she was powerless, even with her above average strength. Soon, she found herself bound in ropes and being transported back to the village square.

Sakura was made to kneel with the other witches as the men prepared the stakes. She looked around and found that her blonde best friend was not amongst the witches that had been caught; Sakura exhaled in relief. A female villager came up to Sakura, her face in a sneer. Sakura realised that it was none other than Kin, the musician's daughter who had an overwhelmingly hatred towards her. Kin pulled Sakura by her silk like pink hair, and Sakura winced in pain. Kin jeered at her,

"Aren't witched supposed to have warts and large noses? They're supposed to look hideous, you know." She tugged forcefully, making Sakura arch her back to lighten the pain. Kin took out a pair of scissors and waved it dangerously close to Sakura's face, she lifted the scissors,

"Why don't you look the part, you bitch!" Kin cried out gleefully and swung the scissors down. Sakura braced herself for the pain to bloom across her face. When it did not happen, she opened an eye to peek about, only to see strands of pink falling around her. Her once waist-length hair had been sliced through haphazardly. Kin cackled above her, making Sakura wonder who was the real witch there. Finally satisfied, Kin looked back down at her, madness in her eyes,

"I'm going to give your face a makeover now, sweetie." Kin promised as she brought the scissors back up. Sakura's eyes widened as the weapon lunged down… only for it to be stopped mere centimetres from her face. Kin had been stopped by a soldier; he had told her that it was time to start burning the witches now and to stop fooling around. Disgruntled, but otherwise fearing the soldier, Kin made her way back towards the eagerly chanting crowd.

"Burn them!"

"Burn the witches!"

"Get rid of them!"

"We don't want whores of the Devil in this village!"

The chants were getting louder as the villagers started getting stimulated. Sakura and the other witches were now tied at the stakes. The soldiers lit the hay with torches and the fire spread rapidly, inching closer and closer to them. The other witches had started screaming, some cursing the villagers for betraying them, some pleading that they were not witches and for them to be released. That was when a torrent of stones and rocks started raining down on them. The villagers had gotten aggressive and started attacking the witches with rocks. Pained cries filled the square as the rocks connected with flesh, breaking skin and even bones.

Sakura kept silent, not willing to give the villagers the pleasure of hearing her crying out in pain. The poor women beside her had half her face crushed when a rock flew into her face. Half her brain was exposed, the other half had splattered behind her head; her eye was dangling from its nerve and blood was soaking through her clothes. Sakura looked away, visibly nauseated from the gore. She spotted Kin aiming a rock at her before she sent it flying. Sakura jerked her head away and the rock grazed the left side of her forehead instead of smashing her head in. A stinging sensation spread across her forehead as the sharp edges of the rock had opened a gash. The warmth of her blood spilled from the wound into her left eye down to her chin, partially blinding her. The next rock that hit her was in the abdomen and Sakura's head lurched forward slightly in pain. The sudden action had caused a few drops of her blood to splatter on her skin, right above her heart. Sakura clenched her eyes shut at the pain from the rocks and the heat from the ever growing flames; she never noticed the mark glowing red…

All of a sudden, everything stopped; the vicious chanting and rock throwing of the crowd ceased, the heat and smoke from the flames disappeared. Sakura was breathing hard, her lungs desperately taking in the cool air. She cracked open her one good eye, _'What just happened?'_ She wondered. She looked around and was shocked to see that everything was frozen in time. The villagers had their face twisted into unsightly masks, but no sound came out from their mouths, in fact, they don't seem to be breathing either. Rocks that were thrown were paused mid-flight and the flames never once flickered. _'D-Did time stop?'_ She glanced around and noticed that the shadows were converging together a few feet away from where she was tied.

Her eye widened, as from the pool of shadows, a form began to ascend. The being slowly materialised from the shadows, as it did, the pool of shadows decreased in size. The first thing she could make out was huge wings that had talons at the tips. A head of jet black hair appeared next, from its sides, there ivory white horns with complicated details that she made out to be runes. Her plan to watch as the entire being emerged from the shadows was shattered when ruby red eyes bordered with long eyelashes locked onto her jade green one. The intensity of the gaze directed at her took her breath away and she unconsciously backed away. She steadied her gaze, muscles coiling anxiously, waiting for any sudden movement. Somehow, as though reading her mind, the pair of eyes blinked slowly, as not to scare her. It was like the trance was broken and Sakura finally found that she could tear her gaze away. She noticed that the being was fully out of the shadows by then. Slowly, she dragged her eyes down along its figure and assessed it. The being in front of her was male and slim, and it had a pale complexion, which gave it a stark contrast against its other colourings. There was a tattoo running from the left side of its forehead to below its left eye. Piercings adorned his ears, left brow and bottom lip while broken shackles encircled its wrists and ankles. The being shifted and seem to be appraising the situation around them with an indifference. Sakura's attention was directed to its clothes which were also black in colour and… _'Oh god, I think it's made of human skin!'_ she silently freaked out inside her head. Before she was fully given the chance to freak out, he interrupted her,

"Were you the one that summoned me?" He asked her, its voice low. Sakura could only gape at it in bewilderment. He sighed, and levitated towards her, his hand reached out towards her chest. Shocked, Sakura attempted to lean away, which was useless since she was tied to a fucking stake.

His index finger touched the mark that she had drawn onto her skin and it felt like electricity had passed between them. Her hair stood and she quickly fixed her gaze towards the being in front of her, her mouth opened in silent shock. He smirked,

"It would seem that you have summoned me to form a contract with me as a familiar. Interesting…" Using his thumb, he wiped the blood away from her left eye, giving her back her vision. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched him lick her blood, red eyes never leaving her green ones. Her lips quivered but she managed to steel herself,

"Are you my familiar then? How did I summon you? The spell written down was incomplete…" She inquired. He hummed, levitating slightly further away in a sitting position,

"The spell was completed when a drop of your blood was spilled onto the mark you drew. I'm only your familiar if you want me to be. But be warned, there are conditions that both parties must agree to before the contract can be formed. Do you still want to go through with it?" He offered. Sakura gritted her teeth; there was probably nothing that she wouldn't do considering the situation that she was currently in,

"State your terms and conditions." She allowed. He leisurely came closer to her,

"First and foremost, as your familiar, I'll be under your command and will do anything you want. My top priority, however, is to keep you safe." He started.

"Now, I have no idea how you did it, but congrats, you've just summoned a rather high ranking demon from hell. Now, you do know that a familiar lives off your magical energy and if needed, your life energy, right? Well, as a high ranking demon, I'm going to be consuming much, much more than an average familiar. You've got to have lots of magical energy if you want to survive keeping me around." He explained. Sakura nodded her head, the gears inside her head already working to find a way to store her magic. The demon seemed pleased,

"Here is my next condition; I will disguise into any animal you wish of me except a slug. Don't giggle; I'll have you know that I do not wish to have the joy of being slimy." He glared at her in an attempt to shut her up. It didn't work. He sighed,

"Continuing on, you'll never be able to get rid of me until the day you die. So, if we were to sign a contract, we're stuck together for a very long time. I hope you're not some annoying brat." He rolled his eyes when Sakura glared at him for calling her a brat.

"And the last condition is… Are you sure you want me as a familiar?" He gazed earnestly into her eyes. Sakura was taken aback; she had never expected a demon to be so courteous. She thought it was more fangs and claws not respect and professionalism. Well, she had already made up her mind anyways, especially after he mentioned the slugs. She nodded her head,

"Let's form the contract. I believe that it would be best if you were my familiar." She consented. He grinned at her, showing off his canines.

"You may call me Sasuke." With that, he pricked his finger and held it above the mark over her heart; a drop of his blood landed it, burning the mark into a permanent tattoo onto her skin. Sakura gasped as the pain receded from the burn. The ropes around her loosened and she rubbed her arms to get the blood flowing. A hand reached out in front of her expectantly, Sakura looked up to see Sasuke in front of her, a smirk on his face and his wings unfurled to their full glory,

"How can I be of service to you, mistress?"

 _~Up next, Day 2~_


	2. Living Nightmare

A/N: Wow, you know, preparing a rough draft doesn't work for me at all… This story was completely different from the original draft… I'm not sure if I should have stuck to the original plot... Omg…

I appreciate reviews and comments so that I can better myself. But please, no flames. Thank you and please enjoy yourself!

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

* * *

 _ **DAY 2: Asylum**_

* * *

In retrospect, I should have argued harder, against my parents, I mean. According to them, they had hidden treasure in a supposedly haunted abandoned asylum years ago in their youth, a haunted abandoned asylum that I was currently stuck in.

"Chests filled with diamonds and gold", they exaggerated. It was apparently the best hiding spot, since even they hadn't a clue where they had hidden it; that, and because the place was creepy enough to deter anyone else. I did argue, trust me, I did. I mean, who in their right mind would go treasure hunting in a god fucking abandoned asylum that was rumoured to be haunted by the spirits of the previous occupants? Why couldn't they have gone instead? Or even tag along? Well, according to their argument, they're old and just not as flexible as they used to be. I wondered briefly what they did during their youth.

"Don't worry honey, you'll be fine. You won't be alone there; you'll have friends to accompany you, trust us." They had persuaded me. I had a sneaking suspicion that this was a test of courage they had prepared for me to 'toughen' myself. Seeing as I had basically no way out of this, I had no choice but to agree, but under a condition though, seeing as I should try to get the best out of it. They agreed to the condition that I could use the money accumulated to pursue a degree in art.

"You're doing great, Sakura! We'll accompany you inside." My mother encouraged from my left as we stepped out of the car, my father on my right. I regarded the looming building nervously, the hairs on the back of my neck standing upright. _'Something was very off with the building'_ , I thought as I willed my legs to move forwards. My father held the door open, it hinges creaked ominously. I stepped in. That was when the nightmare started… I screamed as I saw shadows moving towards us, bright yellow eyes staring at us from beyond the darkness.

* * *

It was morning as I rocked back and forth on the bed, my eyes heavy and hot from all the tears that had spilled from me. My parents had been forcefully taken from me, I was sure of that. The monsters had lunged for me first and I struggled as hard as I could. I turned my head back to where my parents stood, in hopes to get them to either save me or themselves. The words died in my throat however; as I saw that they were being taken away from me, into another room. That was the last thing that I remembered before the darkness overwhelmed me. I sniffed and wondered just what had I done in life to deserve this?

The door clicked open and I jumped, my entire body tensed. A dark head full of spiky hair peeked in and I sagged in relief as kind, dark eyes stared at me in silence. The person staring at me was the sole reason that I have yet to lose my mind. Uchiha Sasuke, he was by my side when I woke up. He wasn't one of the monsters that took my parents from me; he was human. And just like me, he was stuck in here as well. I smiled at him, surprised at myself how easily it came, considering what I had been through. Somehow, his mere presence always calmed me down… He entered the room quietly,

"How are you feeling today, Sakura?" He questioned gently, handing me a packet of biscuits and a small box of milk. I had wondered how he'd managed to get his hands on food. Sasuke told me that he got them from the pantry. Probably what was left over from when the asylum was operating, I guessed. I checked the expiry dates of both products and deemed them safe to eat. I tore open the packet of biscuits,

"I'm managing, I suppose." I replied his question. I popped a biscuit into my mouth and chewed thoughtfully. I swallowed and turned towards him,

"How come you get to roam about the place while I'm locked here in this room?" I inquired, poking the milk box with the straw. He sat in the chair beside the bed,

"You know that you're in here for your own safety. When you're in here, the monsters can't get to you." He supplied as he studied me carefully. I blushed slightly under his scrutiny, it didn't help that he was rather handsome.

"But don't you need help when you do your rounds?" I asked. Sasuke was probably searching for an escape route whenever he made his rounds, for an abandoned asylum, it was locked everywhere. From the doors to the grilled windows; it was really hopeless. I knew that because during the first few days that I was here, I ran around, trying to escape the clutches of the monsters as well as the damned asylum, but I was always caught. Luckily, Sasuke always made it in time to save me. It was on the fourth day that Sasuke decided that I should stay in the room for my own safety. Sasuke looked amused, as though the thought of him being in danger was impossible. Really, the man needed to think about his own safety!

"I'll be perfectly fine, Sakura. The monsters can't get to me." He reached out to take away the now empty packets and stood before heading towards the door,

"I'll be back this evening, alright?" And with that, he disappeared past the door. I pulled my knees up and wrapped my arms around them. Glumly, I looked around the room. There wasn't much that I could do for entertainment, besides staring at the watermarks in the ceiling and walls.

A sudden creak had my attention instantly and I angled my head in the direction of the door. The door… it wasn't lock. I was rooted where I was on the bed, hardly breathing in case I made too much noise. Slowly, painfully slow, I made my way towards the door; my bare feet hardly making a sound. I felt the sweat gather in my palms and my throat was parched. Swallowing thickly, I lowered myself so that I was in a crouch behind the door. I closed my eyes and prayed hard that there wasn't a monstrous face looking back at me when I peeked round the door. Opening my eyes, I inhaled silently, inching myself nearer and nearer towards the edge of the door. I wanted to cry out from how hard my heart was pounding and the uncomfortable feeling of my stomach in my throat but I knew that it would only attract unwanted attentions. Imagine my intense relief when there wasn't a single soul in sight beyond the door. I peered around, checking for demons or monsters that I might have missed. None were in sight. I nodded to myself; this could be an opportunity for me to find a way out, even with Sasuke's own rounds. After all, they always say that two heads were better than one.

I kept close to the walls and tiptoed through the hallway. It was unnaturally quiet today and my guard was up because the walls were usually whispering into my ears. I had passed a few areas when I heard a low moan. Immediately, my legs stilled as the worst outcomes flashed through my mind. Shit, I shouldn't have done this. I'm going to be killed this time! I peered round the corner and screamed as I came face to face with a monster. It was truly a frightening sight; empty eye sockets stared at me, black goo leaking from it. It didn't have a mouth on its face… _Was that even its face?!_ I backed away from it, wary of any sudden movements. As I did, it stood up to its full height, almost seven feet tall with a short torso. It was so skinny that I could count its number of ribs. Its skin was stretched so tightly that it looked like it was about to peel at any moment. Glancing down, I noticed its gangly arms reached past its knees with black talons for tips. The worst happened when its head reached backwards, opening its jaws that were located it its neck and shrieked as loudly as it could in an inhuman voice. Shit, it was calling for backup! I noped the fuck out of there as fast as I could, with full intentions to get the hell out of there or at least to the safety of my room.

In my panicked state, I had somehow managed to get myself completely and utterly lost. I turned a corner and wailed when I saw more creatures waiting for me at the end of the hallway. I turned and quickly went down another hallway, my eyes desperately searching for him, Sasuke. He's the only one who could save me now. Tears welled up in my eyes and blurred my vision. I tripped and fell flat onto the ground with the wind knocked out of me. They were nearing me, I could hear them. It felt as though they were breathing down my neck. I whimpered and attempted to pull myself up when I heard him.

"SAKURA, WHERE ARE YOU?" I heard Sasuke yell. I inhaled and bellowed as loudly as I could,

"SASUKE, HELP ME!" I stood up and leaned against the wall for support. The walls were pulsating but at least I was stable now. I saw the shadows round the corner and immediately took off in the opposite direction. I didn't care, all I knew was that I had to find Sasuke and get the hell out of here. I was running down another hallway when I ran straight into someone or something that was rounding the corner. I staggered backwards but strong arms held onto me tightly. I snapped my head up, meeting the gaze of one Uchiha Sasuke. He was panting hard, clearly from exhaustion. Instant relief bubbled through me so intensely that I couldn't help myself and broke down in his arms. He was smoothing my hair down, shushing me gently,

"It is going to be okay, Sakura. It's okay, you're safe now." He assured me, rubbing his palms in soothing circles on my back. I nodded in confirmation; as long as we're together, I'll be alright. I don't know why, but Sasuke always managed to calm me down.

* * *

Dr. Uchiha Sasuke sighed as the hysterical woman in his arms quieted and brushed the stray hairs that had fallen into her face. He silently thanked the nurse who had given her a shot of Haloperidol. He stood and glanced down at the woman in his arms before heading towards her room. He had just finished diagnosing her condition and he hoped to start treatment soon, for her sake.

 _~Up next, Day 3~_


	3. Privacy, Heard Of It?

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

* * *

 **Day 3: Old Habits Die Hard**

* * *

The television at the bar was on the news channel, the reporter covering the recent serial murders on women who were murdered with their body chopped into pieces. _'Ugh, disgusting piece of shit.'_ Sakura frowned as the shaggy guy at the bar imagined all the wicked ways he would have with the leggy blonde who danced with her friends. _'I've gotta keep my eyes on him in case he spikes her drink.'_ She planned as she wiped down the alcoholic stains of the bar.

Haruno Sakura never knew why or how, but ever since she could remember, she had the ability to delve into the mind of others. Blocking out unwanted thoughts, she was able to focus her abilities on just a single mind. Their joys, fears, ambition and memories were all exposed to her. And after twenty three years of being alive, she had more than enough practice to gather information from someone's mind in mere minutes. Due to her naturally inquisitive nature, she had developed a nasty habit of reading minds for fun. This ability served her well as it allowed her to pick out people who were genuine from the fakes. Sure, it hurt when she heard all the horrible thoughts that were aimed at her. But at the end of the day, it kept her far away from bad people. Sometime during her teenage years, she took this ability to a level above. Depending on how much time she spent in their head, she could pick out their brainwaves from a crowd for a limited period of time. This helped her whenever she needed to avoid anyone.

It was nearly the end of her shift at the bar now (She had to pay her way through medical school, you know), and the thoughts of everyone around her a distant buzz in her head. Abruptly, there were two spikes amongst the sea of thoughts, and instinctively, Sakura tuned out the rest to concentrate on one of them nearest to her. As she entered the mind, she heard whisperings of _'target in sight'_ , _'eliminate target'_ and _'leave no witness'_. Images of live steel, blood splatter and a company logo entered her head. _'A-Am I inside the head of an assassin?'_ Sakura thought nervously. Just as she was about to probe deeper, an image of her at the bar suddenly appeared followed with the thought of _'Mind reading?'_ She immediately exited the mind as fast as she could, right into the second mind…

The voice inside this head was far worse than the first, the bloodlust and hunger screaming at her. A barrage of images entered her head; women from afar, those same women running away screaming in terror, lifeless eyes staring back at her; _'Prey'_ it whispered hungrily into her head. Her breath stuck in her throat, she backed away as far as possible from the thoughts; however, not fast enough before another thought entered her head. An image of her with her eyes wide, clutching a rag tightly to her chest, with a voice whispering, _'New prey'_. Her hands flew to her mouth to stop the scream that threatened to burst past her lips. The television screen flickered and her eyes flew to it, where the reporter was broadcasting images of the victims; the same women that she had seen inside the second mind. Shit, should she stay in the safety of the bar? _'I mean, I wouldn't be attacked in a crowd, right? Could I ask one of my colleagues to send me home?'_ She thought frantically, her eyes searched the crowd inconspicuously, trying to determine whose minds she had read.

Her adrenaline pumped when she felt the second mind slowly heading towards her. _'Fuck this; I have to get out of here and as far away as possible.'_ She thought as she waved to her manager, who mercifully nodded for another bartender to cover her last few minutes. She grabbed her bag and jacket from the cabinets below the bar and headed towards the entrance; at this point, she felt both presences approaching her. Power walking to the door, she grabbed the arm of the bouncer who smiled at her in acknowledgement. He bent forward slightly as she whispered into his ears,

"I think there are two people following me. Could you do something about it?" She pleaded as she put on her jacket. He frowned lightly and nodded his head in agreement before he ushered her out of the club. Walking as fast as possible without running she headed for her apartment a few blocks away. She silently cursed that she knew nothing about how they looked like. Their thoughts were from their point of view, and neither of them had looked into a mirror.

She avoided the alleyways even though they were shortcuts because that was what smart people do and she considered herself somewhat smart to stick to the main roads where there were lights. She noticed their presences tailing her (How did they get past the bouncer so fast?!) and picked up her pace. However, she did notice something strange, it seemed like one of them was shadowing the other as if it was hunting. She hoped that they both took each other out before any of them reached her. Too busy facing forwards, Sakura never noticed the shadows following her, almost brushing against her own shadow. Suddenly, both presences disappeared entirely. _'Are they even human in the first place?'_ The thought crossed her mind as she halted, spreading her senses… nothing. And that felt uncomfortable, shit, it was like having a cockroach in your room and it suddenly disappearing. You'd be filled with fear and anxiety. She jumped the sound of rustling near her, _'OH MY GOD, I need to get out of here, NOW.'_

She was near to her apartment now and the streets were quieter. She started jogging towards her apartment and prayed fervently that wherever those things were, they weren't following her. Something flickered in the reflection of the car beside her and she turned her gaze behind her. The streetlamps that were lighting the sides of the roads were shutting off one by one like a fucking horror movie. She booked it, running as fast as she could (Thank god she was wearing shoes and not heels). She kept her head facing forward as she ran because she knew that it would only slow her down if she turned to look. Besides, judging from how much faster and nearer the sound of lights being shut off, whatever that was chasing her was gaining on her, fast. She ran from one circle of light to another, her hand already grasping the keys in her jacket. _'Just a few more metres, don't you dare trip.'_ Sakura encouraged herself as her apartment came into view.

As she stepped out from the light of the streetlamp, the shadows swallowed her and the sensation of falling filled her. She would have screamed if she wasn't being suffocated. Her hands flailed about in the pitch blackness of the shadows, trying to grab on to something, anything. She couldn't see anything in the darkness, but she was sure that if she could, she would see the black spots entering her vision. Having given up on finding something to hold on to, her hands clawed at her throat, focused on getting rid of whatever that was causing her to suffocate. Tears welled up in her eyes, her lungs burned for oxygen. Even though her mind was racing, she could feel her body losing strength. _'No…'_

An as suddenly as she was trapped, the feeling of suffocation disappeared. The shadows around her disappeared, leaving her kneeling on the pavement. Her lungs burned as she inhaled desperately for air and her tears spilled over from the pain. Still gasping for air, she looked up just in time to see a guy slash another guy (Or was it a monster? It looked like a monster) in half from head to abdomen. She couldn't stand; her arms and leg were trembling like crazy; from the fear; the panic; the lack of oxygen? She didn't know… But what she knew was that the guy with the sword had started walking towards her…and oh my god, she's dead. She shouldn't have peeked into their minds; really, a bad habit. What happened to respecting people's privacy?

Surprisingly, instead of sticking his sword through her, he sheathed it instead and squatted in front of her. He reached his hand out towards her and she flinched back but couldn't back away far enough. Holding her chin between his thumb and index finger, he tilted her head this way and that, silently judging her. Being so close to her, Sakura was able to make out his aristocratic features. _'Shit, for a murderer, he's really good looking, even by supermodels' standards.'_ Her eyes roamed his face as she unabashedly checked him out. Seemingly satisfied, he let go of her chin,

"Was it you?" He abruptly broke the silence. Sakura could only stare at him in confusion. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose,

"Was it you that entered my mind at the bar just now?" He elaborated as if talking to a child. Sakura looked everywhere but his attractive face,

"Uhh… I have no idea what are you talking about?" She avoided his question, her eyes locking onto the slowly evaporating body behind him. The attractive murderer noticed,

"Don't worry; I won't kill you…" He offered as he shielded the corpse from her,

"…If you'd stop lying." He added as an afterthought, locking gaze with her. Sakura somehow managed to get her hands and feet moving as she scrambled backwards,

"S-So what if I were? What's it gotta do with any of this?" She gestured all around. He stared at her for a while, secretly enjoying how she was squirming under his gaze,

"No… that piece of shit over there probably didn't know that you were a telepath. But it did pick up on your bizarre brainwaves. It is a psionic vampire after all." He explained. Sakura could only stare at him dumbfounded. She opened her mouth to reply, close it, only to open it again,

"I DO NOT HAVE _BIZARRE_ BRAINWAVES!" She argued, not having a clue as to how to reply to the rest of the sentences. He exhaled loudly as if trying to calm himself down,

"Psionic vampires are vampires that feed off human energy, your _chi_ if you will; whatever energy that is keeping you alive. You'd probably know it as a psychic vampire." He pointed out. She stared at him blankly, _'No, I don't know what a psychic vampire is and I'm pretty sure that it is my heart and other heat and chemical energies that's keeping me alive, thank you very much.'_ She thought sarcastically. He paid her no heed and continued on with his explanation,

"Anyways, your powers might be of use to the agency I'm working for. We could use a telepath like you. Weeding out bastards like these-" He gestured to the almost gone corpse behind him,

"-won't be so fucking hard anymore." He finished. Sakura blinked as she tried to make sense of his words.

"Wait, wait. Agency you're working for? You want me to follow you?" She questioned. He nodded. Sakura gritted her teeth,

"ARE YOU INSANE?! WHO IN THE RIGHT MIND WOULD FOLLOW A MURDERER TO GOD KNOWS WHERE?!" She all but yell out; her entire body shook with rage. He flinched at the volume of her voice,

"Look lady, it's either you come with me and the agency will offer you protection as well as teach you how to defend yourself against these bastards or I leave you here to fend for yourself when the next one attacks you; your choice. A friendly word of advice though, these bastards communicate fast. Once you've got the attention of one, you've got the attention of all of them." He explained.

"Why should I trust you? What if this was a trap and you just want to kill me? What about university? I've only got a year left! What about my life" Sakura argued. He rolled his eyes,

"Look, if I want you dead, you wouldn't be breathing right now. As I said, the agency needs someone with your talent. I'm sure the director could figure out something for your studies, quit being a worrywart. What about your life? Hn, trust me, it will never return to normal again." He supplied. Sakura looked at him warily, not believing him. He sighs,

"Fine. You know what? Get inside my head. See if I'm lying to you." He offered, tapping his head with an index finger. Sakura nodded and entered his mind once again. This time, she carefully picked out the memories she needed and went through them meticulously, searching for lies that he could have told. Satisfied, she exited with a gasp. He eyed her,

"Do you believe me now?" He asked as he crossed his arms. Sakura nodded her head hesitantly,

"What's up with the agency though? I mean, I looked through your head, but information regarding the agency was vague. Could you tell me, Uchiha Sasuke?" She asked. He raised an elegant brow at the mention of his name. Sakura tapped the side of her head. Sasuke sighed,

"I'll tell you about it when you've been fully implemented into the agency. Now lady-"

"It's Sakura, Haruno Sakura." She interrupted him.

"Huh?"

"My name's Sakura. It isn't fair if only one of us knew each other's name." Sakura supplied. Sasuke nodded,

"Fair enough…Sakura. Now," Sasuke began as he stood up, holding a hand out to her which she took gratefully; her legs hadn't fully regained their strength yet. Also, it was too good an opportunity to pass. Sasuke summoned a portal which left Sakura mouth wide open in shock. She turned to him to ask, but Sasuke held his hand up towards her,

"Later. Now, follow me." He started towards the portal, only to be held back by Sakura. Sasuke's shoulders slumped,

"What now? It's totally safe, you know." He bit out, annoyed at the constant delay. Sakura shook her head before she pointed towards her apartment,

"I need to get my stuff if I'm going anywhere." She quipped, not bothering to hide the mirth in her eyes. Sasuke muttered under his breath as he closed the portal, so much for making a cool exit in front of a beautiful lady… Sakura smirked at his antics. _'Whatever that's going to happen to me is going to affect my life. Better or worse, I don't know. But I know that it's going to be BIG.'_ She thought excitedly as they made their way towards her apartment, the road now cleared of the vampire's corpse.

 _~Up next, Day 4~_


	4. Grim Situation

A/N: Happy 4th of July to my American readers! I heard that you people celebrate with lots of fireworks? Well, let's have a blast with this fic! Also, I'm not good at angst… It's either no angst or too much angst for me…? Just so you know, I mean nothing with the way I chose to go around this fic. It was after I wrote it all down that I remembered what the 4th of July meant to Americans. Squint for NaruHina.

 **Btw, you really need to send me your opinions on this chapter.** Anyways, enjoy! _*whispers*_ _I'm here to kill you emotionally…_

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

* * *

 _ **Day 4: Slice of Life**_

* * *

The day had started off like normal… well, as normal as being in the middle of a war could get. The day team had received orders to check out the town that the night team had ambushed. Medics were needed to help the soldiers, civilians and prisoner or wars that were wounded during the night attack. Over the radio, higher ups had assured them that all the enemies in the village had already been taken care of; and that all they needed to do was to get their butts there.

Dr. Haruno Sakura of the Medical Corps sat inside the truck with her team of medics who chattered with one another, all fully equipped to save lives. None of them seemed worried about the possibility of being ambushed while on the open road. After all, they had the best convoys in the military, led by none other than Sergeant Uchiha Sasuke, who was also the good doctor's fiancé. They arrived early in the morning and started work as soon as possible; the sergeant directing his troops to set up perimeters while the doctor and her team got their hands bloody. Come noon, when the situation was less hectic with no one on the verge of dying, the sergeant and the doctor had their lunch together in the privacy of a tent.

"Sasuke-kun, I have no idea why people say you have a stick up your ass! Honestly!" Sakura exclaimed sarcastically over the meal before she burst out into peals of laughter. Sasuke huffed quietly and flicked his peas onto her plate of stew. She caught him,

"Don't you dare, Uchiha Sasuke! You know how much I hate peas!" She chuckled as she used one hand to wipe away stray tears and the other to spoon the peas back onto his plate. Not one to back down, he started piling more and more peas onto her plate which ended up with both of them flinging peas at each other. Sakura accurately aimed a pea right at the tip of his nose,

"Sasuke-kun, don't you know that it's bad to waste food?" She mock chided him before laughing in delight as the pea caught him by surprise, his eyes immediately crossed to stare at the spot that it had landed on. He shook his head and used a napkin to wipe the stain off. Nonchalantly, he piled a whole lot of peas onto his spoon. Sasuke looked up at his beloved and yanked the spoon backwards, a wicked smirk on his face. Sakura's eyes widened,

"Oh no no no, don't you dare! Uchiha Sasuke, I'm warning you! You'll seriously regret this decision!" Sakura waved a delicate finger at him while she backed away slowly. Her back towards the entrance of the tent, she wondered if she would be able to get away when he let the spoon go, peas flying through the air. Sakura yelped and ducked immediately, praying that none would hit her. At that very moment, a blond head peeked through the entrance; it was none other than Corporal Uzumaki Naruto.

"Hey guys, what's all this laughing about? I can hear you guys from way out-" Naruto was interrupted when his face became the target of Sasuke's tiny peas of fury.

"ARGHH, TEME! WHAT THE HELL?!" Naruto yelled as he stumbled backwards and ended up on his rump. _'Elite soldiers my ass.'_ Sakura thought from the safety of the floor. Naruto was back up in an instant. He pointed an accusing finger at his best friend,

"I thought I was your best friend, teme! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!" He cried out, enraged. Sasuke scoffed,

"You're just bad at avoiding, that's all. You could use more practice. Look at how wonderfully Sakura ducked." He smirked and gestured towards his fiancée who was still lying flat on the floor, her hands bracing her head. Sakura looked up and balanced her head on the palm of her hands,

"So, what brings you here, Naruto? I doubt it was the smell of food… Food tent is straight ahead, by the way." She chuckled. Naruto wiped the peas from his face,

"Nah, I was just here to tell the teme that it's almost time for our perimeter patrols. Don't want him skipping out on our date, you see." He grinned and Sasuke scoffed. Sakura stood up and brushed the dirt from her clothes,

"He'll be there. After I'm done with him, that is." She winked at Sasuke; who just looked away. He couldn't hide how the tips of his ears burned red though. Sakura chuckled and turned back towards Naruto,

"Now shoo, Naruto!" She gave the blond a hug. Naruto 'oohed' and grinned perversely,

"Play nice, kiddies! Uncle Naruto wants some godchildren soon!" He left the tent cackling. Sasuke sighed and shook his head at the antics of his best friend,

"That idiot…" He muttered. He was sure that everyone in the town had heard the blonde's loud declaration. Sakura giggled as she slid into Sasuke's lap,

"He cares, Sasuke. And he's a great friend." She comforted, brushing away the bangs from his face. Sasuke laid his forehead on hers, his gaze beckoning her. She laughed slightly before leaning down and giving him a chaste kiss on the lips.

"I can't wait till this mission is over. We only have what, a few months to go before the wedding?" She mused as her hands massaged the stiffness out of Sasuke's tensed shoulders. He hummed in both agreement and delight; her hands always did magic for him.

"We'll be out of here in no time. For now, we just need to focus on our mission." He assured her as he leaned into her touch. She stared at him in silence before capturing his lips in a kiss; it was heavy with want and passion. Her hands tangled in his hair, his hands pulled her flushed against him. They pulled away after a while, both of them panting hard. Sakura grinned at his flustered face, while he smirked at hers. Unwillingly, she got out of his lap,

"Go, I can hear your boyfriend screaming for you now." She teased him while she fixes the state of her shirt, Naruto's voice in the distance. He grabbed her hands and pulled her into a tight hug before letting go.

"I love you." He whispered, his lips ghosted across her forehead. They both walked out of the tent.

"Promise me that you'd stay safe, Sasuke-kun." She told him. He nodded and left in the direction of the waving blond while she made her way back to the hospital.

* * *

They had patrolled for a while now; with both Sasuke and Naruto discussing what they were going to do after this mission. Naruto had told him about the wonderful woman with pale lavender eyes that he had met during one of his trips back home.

"I'm telling you, she's the kindest person I have ever met!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. Sasuke scoffed, he was sure that Sakura was the kindest woman besides his mother. Naruto rolled his eyes,

"Well, Hinata doesn't have Sakura's fiery temper! She's so cute because she gets flustered so easily! Argh, I just want to hug her!" Naruto boasted. It was Sasuke's turn to roll his eyes,

"Sakura's fiery spirit is what makes her, her. It's pretty fun to argue with her when she's so lively." Sasuke praised. Naruto mumbled _'Masochist'_ under his breath which earned him a slap to the back of his head. He winced at the sore spot of his head,

"Fine, fine. We both have different preferences. Eesh, that hurt, teme!" Naruto conceded before letting out a complaint. Sasuke smirked and glanced at him from the side of his eye,

"I'm pretty sure you deserved it, usuratonkachi." Sasuke told him frankly. Naruto was about to argue some more when Sasuke's hand was held up. He immediately sobered up… Was there an enemy nearby? He wandered away from Sasuke, to cover more ground. That was when he heard it, the unmistakable whistling of bombs heading towards them from above.

"Naruto, find cover now!" Sasuke commanded as he too dived for shelter behind a rock. Bombs were dropped all around them, the explosions causing stones and shrapnel to fly about. Sasuke gritted his teeth and kept himself tightly curled up, his hands protecting his head. He hoped that no bomb was dropped beside him; he'll be screwed if that happened. As the bombs exploded, he noticed something, they were heading further and further away from where he was, and almost as if they were heading towards the…hospital. _'SAKURA!'_ Sasuke realised. She was at the hospital! Oh God, please let her be safe! PLEASE!

As soon as he deemed the area to be safe, he came out of hiding and headed towards the hospital. _'Wait, Naruto…'_ his mind whispered to him. He turned around immediately, looking for the blond.

"Naruto, where are you?!" Sasuke shouted as he searched. He heard rustling and he ran towards it. Behind what used to be the wall of a house lay Naruto. His left hand clutched at his abdomen, blood poured profusely from it as well as his legs and from a deep gash at the side of his face. His right hand was totally gone…it had been blown off.

"Teme…" He whispered; his voice hoarse. Sasuke skidded to a stop beside him, his breath caught in his throat as he took in his best friend's condition. Unfortunately for Naruto, a bomb had been dropped mere metres from him which caused shrapnel to be embedded all over his body. Sasuke cursed aloud his hands providing pressure on the wounds; shit, Naruto was in a very bad condition, he needed emergency medical attention. Naruto grasped Sasuke's hand,

"You were right teme; I do need more practice ducking for cover." Naruto chuckled before he had a coughing fit. Blood dribbled out from the corner of his mouth. He looked Sasuke straight in the eyes,

"Go make sure Sakura-chan is alright, teme. I'll be here waiting." He grinned. Sasuke nodded and placed Naruto's hand back onto his abdomen,

"I'll go get help. You just focus on staying awake, okay? You'll be fine…" Sasuke promised. He was silent for a while,

"Thank you, Naruto." He murmured before he started for the direction of the hospital. Naruto smiled at the back of his friend before looking up towards the sky,

"Man, I wish that I got to spend more time with Hinata…" His whispered wistfully. His cerulean blue eyes dimmed, and he exhaled his last breath.

* * *

Sasuke ran as fast as he could, his heart drummed loudly in his chest. _'She's gotta be safe. She's gotta be…'_ He reached the site where the damage was the worse. There were fires here and there. Bodies littered the streets; some had been blown to pieces. There were no current survivors that he could see… Frantically, he made his way over to the hospital, jumping over debris,

"Sakura, where are you?!" He called out desperately through the smoke and the fires. He reached the spot where the hospital used to be, cold shock going through his body. Where previously the hospital stood, it was reduced to nothing but rubble. Sasuke circled the rubble as he yelled out Sakura's name. Then, he heard it… It was soft, but he could hear muffled calls beneath the rubble. Zeroing in to where the sound came from, he started to dig through it frantically.

His hands were bloody by the time he removed the rock that covered her pink head. He exhaled in relief when she lifted her face and jade green eyes blinked wearily at him,

"Sasuke-kun?" She murmured. Sasuke nodded and began digging through more of the rubble. Somehow, from sheer luck, Sakura had managed to survive the building collapsing on her. The piece of concrete that was above her head never touched her, being held up by other pieces around her. Apart from being dusty and a few shallow cuts, Sakura seemed fine. Sasuke attempted to lift the biggest rubble from her when he found it too heavy to do it alone. From somewhere beyond the now destroyed town, the sounds of shots being fired echoed through the air. Both widened their eyes, thoughts flying through their head.

If it wasn't bad enough that Sakura was trapped, they were also targets for enemy fire. Sasuke cursed, hefting with all his might as he tried to get the heavy concrete off her. Sakura turned her attention towards Sasuke,

"Sasuke, get yourself armed and out of here now. You know as well as I do that there is no way for you to lift this by yourself. Besides, you don't see it but I think my leg has been crushed, I can't feel it anymore… I'll only slow you down." Sakura whispered in horror. Sasuke shook his head,

"You know as well as I do that I would never leave you here alone." He argued stubbornly. The shots were nearer now. Sakura turned frantic eyes on him,

"Sasuke-kun, go. Leave me a gun; I'll buy you some time. You know I'm a sharp shooter. Please, just leave. Do it for me, okay? I won't have you killed!" Tears flowed down her cheek. Giving up on removing the rubble, Sasuke hunted around. He came back to her, carrying as many guns, bullet packs and grenades that he could possibly hold. Sakura smiled at him and took a gun (a Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun) from him. She adjusted her body into position,

"Get going Sasuke, I'll buy you some time- What are you doing?!" Sakura cried out in exasperation. Sasuke had arranged the weapons neatly on the ground beside her and on the rubble near him for easy reach. He then took position,

"I'm not leaving you alone, Sakura. I'll stay here beside you. Don't worry; I'll get us out of here." Sasuke insisted, his eye looking through the scope of the AK-47. Sakura sighed and took aim herself, there was no use arguing with a determined Uchiha even when the situation was a grim as could be…

 _~Up next, Day 5~_


	5. Walking Dead

A/N: My father calls me morbid… I love horror stories, do you?

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

* * *

 _ **Day 5: Tag**_

* * *

It was another long night of working the graveyard shift for one Uchiha Sasuke. As a security guard for Konoha General Hospital, he was making his rounds for the first three floors of the hospital, not including the basement. Sasuke had had just finished the last stretch of the ground floor when he made his way towards the elevator. He jabbed the 'down' button and then zipped his jacket up a little further. He made a mental note to check on the thermostat later; it was unnaturally chilly in the hospital…

He sighed, not really looking forward to the basement; not only was it dark but it was also where the morgue was located. Sasuke radioed his partner that had taken the upper floors, but there wasn't a reply. He shrugged, it wasn't all that weird, for all he knew, his partner could be taking a quick nap somewhere. The life at the hospital was an ancient device, and it took its time before finally reaching the floor with a sharp _'ding'_. Getting his flashlight ready, he stepped into the metal box. It shocked him however, when, just as the doors were about to close, a pale hand reached in and grabbed hold onto one of the doors. Thinking quickly, Sasuke immediately pushed the 'open' button. The door opened and revealed a pink haired woman around his age, her eyes closed and her mouth in a big grin,

"Whew, thank goodness the door didn't close all the way! I was afraid my fingers would have been seriously injured." She exclaimed as she entered the elevator. She adjusted her beige coat and red scarf tighter around herself as Sasuke peered curiously at her. She turned to him and her jade green eyes blinked at him,

"What is it?" She asked the mirth in her eyes evident. Sasuke glanced towards the control panel of the lift where his finger was still on the button. He turned back to her,

"Ms, this lift is heading down. If you are here to visit a patient, you should wait for the next round. Although, it seems weird that you would be visiting a patient this late at night. Visiting hours _are_ over, you know?" He told her. She smiled at him,

"No worries, mister security guard! I'm a med student here and I'm actually heading towards the morgue." She explained. He nodded slowly in understanding and let go of the button. She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly,

"I accidentally left some files at the morgue when I was down there just now. I made it halfway to the exit when I remembered them!" She pointed out before letting out a little chuckle which Sasuke found rather cute.

"I hope you don't mind, mister security guard, but I was hoping if you'd accompany me to get my files? It gets a little creepy down there at night." She requested. She looked away in slight embarrassment. Sasuke shrugged his shoulders, he really didn't mind. It didn't help that she was pretty too.

"No problem, miss; as long as you don't mind me patrolling as well… I'd rather not make a second trip down if I could help it." He told her. She nodded her head and told him that she didn't mind. Sasuke smirked,

"Also, the name's Sasuke. I'd rather not be called 'mister security guard', it sounds really old… and I'm probably around your age too." He teased her. She giggled,

"Well okay, Sasuke… You can call me Sakura." She smiled and held out her hand for a shake. Sasuke took it and almost jumped at how cold her hand was,

"Whoa, you're freezing cold!" He exclaimed. She chuckled and placed her hand into the pocket of her coat. The elevator dinged and opened its doors. They stepped out into the hallway that was dimly lit with a light source right in front of the morgue. The morgue was straight ahead of them, (maybe some forty feet?) while offices were located in the hallways to their right. Sasuke turned his flashlight on and Sakura stuck by her word as she accompanied Sasuke on his rounds,

"So… why are you working the graveyard shift, Sasuke?" Sakura asked with the intention to fill the silence. Sasuke decided to humour her,

"I need the extra cash to pay off law school." His reply was short and straightforward. Sakura hummed as she peered through the glass of the offices. She turned back to him,

"Don't we all? Med school is expensive too… I can hardly get by each month as it is." She joked as she returned to his side. Sasuke nodded as he checked the last door,

"I'm done here. Shall we get to the morgue?" He jerked his head back towards the start of the hallway. Sakura nodded excitedly,

"Yeah, I'll get the files and then we can get out of here. It's super creepy being down here…" She quipped and they made their way back to the start of the hallway. At the entrance of the morgue, Sasuke swiped his access card and the door opened with a _'beep'_. Sakura felt the side of the walls for the light switch and flipped it on. They both flinched back when bright lights flooded the room,

"Sorry about that." Sakura apologised. Sasuke shook his head and motioned for her to get her files. Sakura nodded as she made her way towards the desk at the back of the morgue while Sasuke looked around. The bright lights did nothing to make the place feel any less creepy. He was studying the names on the freezer when he heard a clatter behind him. Hands on his baton, he immediately turned around to detect the source of the noise. Nothing, there was nothing standing behind him. There were only the trolleys behind him, trolleys that were used to transport the dead…

"Sorry, that was my fault! I spilled over some pens!" Sakura cried out from the back. Sasuke didn't answer. It really felt as though the sound came from behind him, not from where Sakura was. His hand tightened around the baton…

He turned to where Sakura was and saw that she was approaching him with some files in her arms. She grinned brightly at him,

"I got the files! Now let's get out of here." She said proclaimed. Sasuke couldn't agree with her more. They shut off all the lights and made their way back to the elevator, which was still on the same floor. The elevator opened its doors and the got in. Behind them, they heard the rustling of cloth. They turned around and saw a figure shuffling towards them. It's back towards the light so they couldn't see its face,

"Wait. Hold the door, please." Its raspy voice called out as it slowly made its way towards them. Sakura smiled,

"Sure, it is not a problem. We'll wait for you." She agreed and reached out to press the _'open'_ button on the control panel. Sasuke stared warily at the figure before he directed his gaze towards its feet. His eyes widened in horror and immediately he shot his hand out to grab Sakura's outstretched hand. With his other hand, Sasuke jabbed the _'close'_ button of the lift repeatedly. Sakura turned surprised eyes at him,

"What are you doing?! Can't you see someone wants to get on as well?" She chided as she tried to pry her hand from Sasuke who held on tightly. The figure increased it pace as it shuffled eerily towards them. Fortunately, the doors of the elevator closed when the figure was about ten feet from them. Slowly, the ancient elevator made its ascent and Sasuke released Sakura's hand from his grip. She turned towards him and saw that his jaw was clenched tightly,

"What was all that about? I thought you're a better person than that!" She reprimanded with her face in a frown. He peered at her,

"Listen, I'm sure that you, as a med student, would have basic knowledge of this… What do you do to tag dead bodies?" He questioned her. Sakura shrugged,

"Well, you tag their big toe with a piece of paper that contains their relevant information. Why?" She prompted. Sasuke sighed and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms,

"Well, that thing walking towards us had a toe tag…" His gaze drifted downwards, towards their feet. His eyes widened,

 **"…** **Like you do."**

 _~Up next, Day 6~_


	6. Her Majesty is SAVAGE

A/N: Ahh… I love Sakura's character so much!

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

* * *

 _ **Day 6: Watch the Queen Conquer**_

* * *

He sat at the throne hunched forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped under his chin, apparently deep in thought. His Majesty Uchiha Sasuke gritted his teeth as his informant relayed the discouraging news of his wife being captured. The queen was returning home from a visit to her family when she was snatched away in broad daylight. Sasuke snarled which startled the poor informant; he was very fond of his wife, god dammit! Uchiha Sakura, née Haruno, was a loving and strong-willed woman. Even if their marriage had been arranged, he had grown terribly fond of his wife after sharing his last name with her for almost a year. She was, after all the best thing that had happened to him. He glanced back down at his informant who was reading through a ransom note that was left behind; her Majesty Uchiha Sakura for the refugees of the Myoji Kingdom.

Sasuke knew who the culprit was; the despicable King Gohei of the Myoji Kingdom. King Myoji was known throughout the lands as a loathsome ruler who only cared for siphoning the riches from the people of his kingdom. Fed up with their king's antics, many of the population had sought refuge from the kings of other kingdoms. His Majesty Uchiha Sasuke of Konoha was one of those rulers that had accepted the refugees with open arms. Now, King Myoji was getting desperate, without subjects to rule, there was no tax to collect; which means that King Myoji couldn't increase his personal fortune. After all, what was a king without its people?

Furious, Sasuke called forth his childhood friend most trusted general, Sir Uzumaki Naruto; a blond who was the epitome of the sun. With his sun kissed skin and cerulean blue eyes, Naruto looked exactly like a hero that people have told stories about. Naruto walked to the front of the throne and bowed low,

"I am ready to serve you, your Majesty." He spoke with respect. Sasuke nodded, and prompted him to be at ease,

"Get the Nine Knights ready for a meeting. We're going to plan the best course of action to bring my queen back." Sasuke commanded as he stood from the throne, his sword at his waist. Naruto nodded and bowed again before heading towards the door. He glanced back at the king,

"Don't worry, Sasuke. We'll get Sakura back safe and sound." He assured before he walked out of the throne room. Sasuke made his way towards his chambers to change into his armour, he was going to personally lead the mission whether his counsellors liked it or not. He was stopped, however, by a lady in waiting who curtsied. She stared at him with wide eyes and produced a note from her sleeves,

"It just got here, your Majesty… from a messenger pigeon of the Myoji Kingdom. I was instructed to hand it to you personally." She spoke softly and handed him the note. She scurried away after Sasuke thanked her. He opened it warily and almost immediately recognised his wife's writing. He read through it quickly and was left with more questions than answers.

The note read: _"The situation here will be handled soon. I'll be waiting."_ At the bottom of the note, there was a cherry blossom pattern. It was his wife's insignia…

After what seemed like days of travelling on horseback, the king and his team of elites made their way into the Myoji Kingdom with a refugee as their guide. The kingdom was unnaturally quiet which got onto Sasuke's nerves. He turned towards the refugee,

"Is it natural for the kingdom to be this quiet, especially this near the palace?" Sasuke asked. The red haired refugee, a guy named Kenji, shook his head,

"I'm afraid not, your Majesty. Before King Myoji came into power, the kingdom flourished. Now, with the high taxes that the king forced upon us, many of us had fled the country. But even still, there should at least be some activities here and there. It is way too quiet, as if the rest of the kingdom just upped and left…" Kenji replied as he looked around in suspicion. Sasuke nodded his head and turned back towards his troop,

"It seems like the place had been deserted. However, be on high alert, it could just be an ambush." He warned them. Murmurs of agreement could be heard. The road was widening,

"Your Majesty, just up ahead, there would be a bridge. Once we cross it, we will be right in front of the palace." Kenji announced as the palace came into view. It came as a shock to them when they saw that bodies littered the bridge that led to the castle; all of them looked like were in the middle of fleeing from the castle, all of them were dressed in soldiers uniform. Sasuke and his team made their way to the front gates of the palace,

"Just what happened here?" Naruto asked aloud. He whistled low at the sheer number of dead soldiers. Something didn't seem quite right, he thought as he examined the bodies. Then it struck him,

"Is it me or does it seems like they were fighting each other? Usually when there is battle, there should be casualties from both sides. But from what I can see, only the dead bodies of the castle's soldiers can be seen…" He trailed off as he saw that there was a survivor amongst the sea of carnage. He jumped off his horse and made his way towards the soldier who had groaned in pain,

"Hey you, could you tell us what happened here?" Naruto prompted the soldier as Sasuke approached from behind. The soldier nodded,

"The soldiers in the castle were split 50-50. Those that opposed the king and those that followed his greedy ways. I'm not sure who won though…" He explained as he set himself into a more comfortable position. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the explanation. What did that mean for Sakura? Was she caught in the crossfire? Did she manage to escape?

"You said that one side opposed the king. May I know who was it that led the rebellion?" Sasuke asked. The soldier nodded,

"It was a prisoner who had the guts to stand up to the king; a prisoner managed to talk us into the rebellion from behind bars. Man, she's really something, I tell you…" He chuckled. He looks straight at Sasuke,

"It was your wife who managed this, your Majesty. It was Queen Uchiha Sakura of Konoha." He grinned. Naruto gaped at the soldier, then to Sasuke, who looked equally as shocked,

"Did you know that Sakura-chan was this awesome?!" Naruto asked excitedly. There were stars in his eyes. Sasuke schooled his facial expression to something more befitting of his royal status. Sasuke shook his head and pictured his sweet and loving wife as a leader of a rebellion. He found that he very much liked that picture…

"Her Majesty should be in the throne room right now. It was, after all, where the king was hiding." The soldier supplied before he had a coughing fit which further agitated his wound. Sasuke signalled towards his team to give the poor soldier first aid and to search for any other survivors. He and Naruto then made their way towards the throne room with Kenji in the lead.

Outside the throne room, they heard muffled talking. Sasuke signalled to Naruto and Kenji to stay silent as they stealthily entered the throne room. They kept to the shadows to further hide their presence. What they saw definitely was a surprise to them.

Sakura sat at the throne with her legs crossed as she casually twirled King Gohei's heavily jewelled encrusted crown with a finger. Said king kneeled in front of her. He had his arms and legs bound in iron shackles. If that wasn't enough, a group of soldiers surrounded him, their swords pointed at him. Sakura stopped playing with the crown and turned her attention towards King Gohei. She smiled at him pleasantly,

"You've made an enemy of the wrong country and made the mistake of capturing me. Now, your kingdom belongs to my husband. Don't worry your bald head though; we'll be sure to make it a better place than your sorry ass ever could." She set the crown down on the throne made her way towards him.

"This is punishment for all the wrong you did to your country and its people." She explained as she took a sword from a soldier. She gestured for the rest of them to step away from the king. Sakura took her spot behind the king, the sword in position.

"Do you have any last words? Perhaps a prayer for the Great One to take mercy on your pitiful soul?" She asked him as she took her stance.

"I don't pray to God, you wench!" The king snarled. Sakura lifted a dainty pink brow before she smirked at him,

"Why, I never said _I_ was God." She chirped and then swung the sword. She didn't even flinch as the sword cleanly chopped the king's head off. The head fell onto the floor with a thud and blood sprayed from the stump of the neck. Sakura flicked the blood on the sword with a flex of her wrist before she handed it back to the stunned soldier. Sakura made her way back towards the throne and picked up the crown, idly brushing off any dust,

"Bring me a pigeon; I'd like to inform my husband that I am safe." She commanded. Her back was still turned when Sasuke strode out from the shadows. Sakura turned around and was nearly startled into dropping the crown when she saw Sasuke surveying the body of the dead king with some interest. A smile broke out on Sakura's face,

"Darling…" She breathed out, heart fluttering in her chest. Sasuke finally turned his gaze towards her; the intensity of it sent shivers of pleasure down her spine,

"It looks like it was useless of me to worry, my Queen." Sasuke commented before he smirked devilishly. He felt his chest fill up with pride and admiration as she smiled brightly at him,

"You did well, Sakura."

 _~Up next, Day 7~_


	7. Animal Hybrids

A/N: Please, let's not question the fidelity of any of the animals... I'm devastated that leopards are not mates for life like wolves are. But this is set in a desert jungle… So, I'll just wallow in grief in my own corner. I'll try to stick as close as I can to the facts.

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

* * *

 _ **Day 7: Animal Kingdom**_

* * *

It was dusk when the animals gathered near the watering hole. Dense forest surrounded them; providing a safe haven for them. Slowly, amongst the animals, some of them morphed into humanoid figures; hybrids. Hybrids maintained some of their animalistic features like claws, wings, tails etc. These hybrids were some of the most ancient and powerful of their species. They believed that when an animal reached a certain age, the moon spirit grants them human figures and human intelligence so that they can protect themselves and their tribe from danger…

Sakura yawned as she lazily lounged atop a tree branch. She eyed the other animals that came to rest at the watering hole; she paid particular attention to the hybrids. Ino, a gazelle, was currently drinking from the watering hole. There was Naruto and his mate, Hinata; the lion and lioness were directing their pride towards where Sakura was currently resting on. He spotted the jaguar in the tree and grinned brightly at her,

"Yo, Sakura-chan! How are you doing?" The king of the jungle inquired well naturedly as Hinata gave her a shy smile. Sakura morphed into her human form and return the gesture. Naruto shook his head,

"You know, you're not really pink in colour in your original form… Wonder how'd your hair turn that colour?" Naruto teased. Sakura rolled her eyes at him and pinched a lock of her hair between her thumb and index finger,

"You know that our appearance come from our personalities, it's what suits us best. Besides, your hair is as ridiculously wild in human form as well as your animal form…" She jested. Naruto scratched the back of his head before he started looking around,

"And where would your mate be, Sakura?" He asked. Sakura shrugged,

"Sasuke's probably just checking the territory; he'll be here soon. You don't have to worry your head off, Naruto." She answered him before she turned towards Hinata and grinned widely,

"Now, I see that you're hiding something from me, Your Grace of the pride." She mentioned as she pointedly ignore Naruto's unsightly wail of not being addressed as royalty. Hinata blushed prettily,

"Ah, I'm expecting soon, Sakura-san. I just found out about it…" She answered before she turned shy eyes towards Sakura. Naruto practically jumped in excitement,

"Whoa, you are quick, Sakura-chan! Even I just found out about it today! I'm so excited, this would be our first!" He gushed excitedly as he wrapped a protective arm around his mate. Sakura gave her congratulations to the happy couple just as her mate came out from the shadows of the trees, his stride confident and powerful, which caused Sakura to whistle in appreciation. Sasuke threw her a smirk and went to the edge of the watering hole for a drink. Naruto eagerly made his way to Sasuke,

"Teme, I have great news to tell you! Hinata is pregnant; I'm going to be a father!" He chattered excitedly. Sasuke spared him a glance before he morphed,

"Congrats on your wife's pregnancy, dobe. Make sure to treat her well." He congratulated and advised his friend before making his way up to the branch where his mate was. Sasuke nudged his wife into a sitting position and then nuzzled her head in affection when she did so,

"How are you? I hope you didn't strain yourself too hard, today?" He probed his mate gently. She shook her head,

"No, I'm fine. A little tired, but it's nothing I can't handle." Sakura assured as Ino walked towards their group. Hinata gasped softly while Naruto looked confused,

"Uh, guys… What's going on?" He questioned as he scratched his cheek. Ino sighed,

"For the king of the jungle, you're pretty dumb." She mumbled. Naruto turned his head towards the other blonde of the group and pointed an accusing finger at her,

"Well, you're pretty brave to enter a group of carnivores!" He accused. Ino rolled her baby blue eyes,

"Back off! Do you want to know what is going on or not?!" She hissed impatiently. Naruto's shoulders slumped, for a king he was always being bullied by other hybrids, he sulked. And why was a gazelle so damn fierce anyways?! Hinata giggled at her mate's antics as the others shook their heads. Naruto's ears perked however, when Sakura cleared her throat,

"Naruto, Sasuke-kun and I are also expecting our first child… Just like you and Hinata-chan." She explained. Naruto's eyes grew as wide as saucers,

"Seriously?! Oh my god, Sakura-chan! That's really great news! I would hug you if I could climb trees!" He cheered enthusiastically. He pointed a finger at Sasuke,

"You've got to make sure that Sakura is safe and sound!" He encouraged the male leopard. Sasuke nodded his head dutifully,

"Speaking of keeping her safe and sound, we've got to keep our guards up now. I was about and I caught the scent of humans, poachers. They're quite close to us… I think it's best that we keep the young ones close to the group and perhaps move locations." Sasuke suggested. Naruto hummed in agreement as he stroked the bottom of his chin. He looked around the group of hybrids,

"I'll send out a warning to the rest of the groups tomorrow. For now, we should at least spread the word to the others here." He suggested and gestured towards the watering hole. He then clapped his hands together,

"Oh right, we should also revert back to animal forms. We don't want the humans to find out about hybrids. It'll probably cause quite a huge commotion in the human world." He instructed them. They all bowed low in agreement and then immediately morphed back into their original forms. The sun was almost gone and Sakura stretched lazily on the branch,

"Well, I'm heading for a drink. I'll warn the others since I'm there anyways." She declared before she stepped over Sasuke on her way down. He looked at her,

"Want me to go with you?" He offered. Sakura shook her head no, it wasn't like she was hunting anyways. Ino perked up,

"I'll go with Sakura. My herd's back at the watering hole anyways." She informed them before taking her place beside Sakura.

Sakura took a lap of water as Ino chattered anxiously with her herd. It was then that she heard it, the sound of a twig snapping. Sakura's entire body stilled and Ino's head jerked towards the direction of the sound,

"It's faint since we're upwind, but, I can pick up the distinct scent of humans." Sakura whispered. Ino's head bobbed up and down,

"Let's act natural and try to get nearer to the others. I don't think they'll want to risk hunting us when there are more predators around." Ino advised. Sakura was about to make her way back to where Sasuke was when an impala at the far end of the watering hole suddenly shot up on hind legs,

"OW, W-WHAT THE- HUMANS! THERE ARE HUMANS HERE!" It yelled out loud. The effect was instantaneous, all at once, all the animals ran amok. No one knew where the humans were, just that they should figure out a way to get the hell out of there. It was a shocking sight, however, when one by one, the animals started to get caught in the invisible traps that were set. Ino pushed at Sakura,

"Go, Sakura! We have to get out of here!" She screamed and together, both leopard and gazelles sprinted across the watering hole. A poacher suddenly appeared in front of them and Sakura lunged at him and her strong jaws crushed his windpipe. She got off him immediately and kept the pace with Ino's herd. It was Ino's horrified screams however, that made her stop short in her tracks. Sakura turned around and saw that there were a few humans that had tranquilised her friend; Ino laid limp as the poachers dragged her into a cage. Adrenaline racing, Sakura hissed in anger and pounced on one of the poachers who immediately let go of the gazelle. The rest of them stepped back in horror and aimed their guns at Sakura. She had pounced onto another human when the poachers shot the tranquilizers. Sakura raced for the pain but it never came. She looked up and gasped in shock; Sasuke had taken all the shots for her. He glared at the poachers before he turned his gaze back onto his mate,

"Get the hell out of here, Sakura. I'll take care of them, okay?" He nudged at her; his entire body covered hers, not giving the poachers a chance to take a shot at her. The tranquilizers were working fast and Sasuke could feel the drowsiness settling into him. Sakura nodded her head; she needed to keep her child safe. She was not in any position to attack a group of poachers with loaded tranquilizer guns. Sasuke smirked at his mate and lifted his body from hers. She immediately sprinted away at full speed towards the jungle. The poachers were startled and aimed their guns at her. Nonetheless, Sasuke was having none of it; he roared loudly to bring their attention back onto him as his mate vanished into the dense jungle. Mission accomplished, his entire body slumped into unconsciousness.

Sakura ran and ran and ran. She knew what she had to do; she had to find Naruto and come up with a plan to get the captured animals back. She just had to find a way to convince the king of the jungle that it wasn't an incredibly stupid plan to attack human poachers. Now, where the hell was Naruto?

* * *

It turned out that the king of the jungle didn't need any convincing; he was itching to attack the humans right now. After all, they had taken away his precious mate and unborn child. He stalked the clearing within the jungle angrily as the other animals watched on in grief. Many other animals had their love ones taken away from them; it just wasn't right that the humans were to be left alone. Sakura stalked up to Naruto,

"We have to save them, Naruto. It's best if we don't waste any more time if we want to get them back." She advised him. He turned to look at her,

"I know that, Sakura-chan! But we need a plan! We can't just waltz up to them and attack… At this moment, I really can't think of a plan that is guaranteed the freedom of all the animals caught." He confessed. Sakura nodded, deep in thought. She looked up suddenly,

"I think I might know the perfect animal for plans." She whispered in epiphany. Naruto raised a brow at her, and she smirked at him.

"He is Shikamaru the owl, you may have heard of him as The Great Intellectual. He's a close friend of Ino's." She supplied. Naruto's lips curved upwards devilishly. Time to pay a certain owl a visit…

* * *

The moon was high up in the sky when Sasuke stirred; the pounding in his head a constant reminder of the tranquilizers that the poachers had used on him. Sasuke blinked blearily as his eyes adjusted to the bright lights that the poachers had set up. All around him, the sounds of the other animals called for help from the great moon spirit as they paced around in their respective cages.

"I see you're awake, Sasuke." A voice spoke up from beside him and Sasuke turned to look; it was Ino who had spoken. She shot him a brittle smile,

"They've just about finished with securing the cages. I heard that they were about to set for town soon. Apparently, there were many orders for exotic animals as pets this time around, so none of us were actually skinned on site." Ino explained to him. She looked towards him,

"Do you think there would be anyone coming to save us?" She asked him, her voice filled with worry. Sasuke shrugged and Ino let out a sigh,

"But, it seems like those two idiots didn't get caught. So if anything, Naruto and Sakura would probably charge straight into here to free us all." Sasuke mused. Ino chuckled humourlessly,

"I hope not, that'll be pretty stupid. They'll just end up being caught. Plus, Sakura shouldn't strain herself like that. Not when she's with child…" Ino muttered as Sasuke nodded his head. Suddenly, her head shot up,

"I hear something from the jungle…" She uttered. She snapped her head back to Sasuke,

"You're the one with better vision. Tell me; is there anything straight ahead of us into the jungle, about 50 metres?" She inquired. Sasuke looked and was thoroughly shocked when he saw Sakura staring back at him in her humanoid form. He smirked,

"It looks like our cavalry arrived." He whispered to Ino as his gaze stayed on his mate. She signalled at him and he gasped in shock. Ino looked at him, the suspense was grating on her nerves,

"What? What? What's she saying? What's going on?!" She expressed her confusion. Sasuke turned back to Ino with his eyes wide,

"She wants us to morph…" He breathed out. Ino stared at him,

"What? Is she nuts? That'll give our secret away to the humans! They'll freak…" Ino hissed before the realisation settled in. She gaped at Sasuke,

"It's a diversion." Sasuke confirmed. Ino grinned widely at him,

"That means that there won't be any human survivors…" She exclaimed as her eyes twinkled. Sasuke backed away slightly. Seriously, this gazelle was probably supposed to be a predator… Ino turned and began calling the attention of all the hybrids that were captured. She told them of the plan and slowly, grins started to appear. One by one, they started to morph…

"We're pretty much done here… Let's start packing the goods onto the tru- OOOH MY GOD. BOSS! T-THE ANIMALS TURNED TO HUMANS!" A poacher shouted in horror. The leader of the group turned around,

"Whadayya mean humans? Are ya stupid or som- FUCKING SHIT! YOU'RE RIGHT! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" He exclaimed before he ordered his men to check the other cages. All around, exclamations of excitement were heard.

"Boss, this on turned too! Man, this is freaky!"

"This one was supposed to be a leopard! Now it's a hot chick with long limbs and tail!"

"What the hell is going on?!"

The leader of the group cackled maniacally as he processed what was going on.

"Good, this is the jackpot! Imagine how much we'll make if we sell these to the rich people who wanted exotic pets? Or research centres all around the world? Hell, we'll make millions! No, BILLIONS!" He exclaimed joyfully and the rest of his crew cheered with him. Too engrossed with the extraordinary findings, no one took notice of the shadows that circled them. It was sometime later when one of the poachers noticed that something was unnaturally wrong with the jungle,

"Wait, wait guys. Keep it down. There's something wrong…" He silenced the other guys. They looked around and then laughed it off,

"You're too paranoid. There's nothing wrong with the jungle. Wimp…" They jeered. He hushed them,

"No, listen. What do you hear?" He encouraged them. They kept silent for a while and listened hard,

"We can't hear anything man, stop being a chicken." Another hunter called out. The first guy shook his head,

"Don't you see the problem? It's too quiet. There aren't even any insect calls." He pleaded. That statement got their attention. They listened again and suddenly a chill went down their spine. It _was_ too quiet for the jungle. The leader called out to his men,

"Start the cars! We're getting out of here as soon as possible!" He commanded. The drivers went to their assigned vehicles to start the engine. Only, the engines were dead. No matter how much they twisted the key or stepped on the accelerator, the vehicle didn't make a sound. One of them bent down to check if there was anything below the car that could have sabotaged it. He staggered back in terror when he saw that there were deep gashes across the bottom and sides of the vehicles. He called out towards his leader,

"Boss, someone or something sabotaged the cars. We've got no way to start them at all." He explained just as a light nearby shattered. Everyone jumped in shock, some had even screamed in fear. Then, more and more lights started to go out. The leader anxiously commanded another guy to start calling for backup as the jungle around them dimmed further with each light that went out.

"I can't get any signal, boss!" The guy with the satellite phone cried out. They were now all huddled together in the area of the last light with their backs to each other, their guns raised and pointed. The last light went out and all of them braced themselves for the pitch blackness. What they didn't expect were the hundred pairs of glowing eyes that gazed back at them in the darkness…

The watering hole was filled with screams that night.

 _~Up next, Day 8~_


	8. RE-Animation

A/N: I seem to be posting later and later…lol. Also, please don't bring the dead back to life, it's not a very healthy habit. That goes for killing people too… I feel like I've fallen too far into insanity now due to week one's theme… lol.

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

* * *

 _ **Day 8: Twist of Fate**_

* * *

They had been married for years; Uchiha Sakura, the first legally practicing doctress in London and Uchiha Sasuke, a renowned scientist. Everyone knew him to be especially devoted to his lovely wife; more so than ever when she became frail and sickly. However, he was prone to disappearing from the house only to return at the most unusual hours these past few weeks…

Uchiha Sakura was reading the papers at the dining table as her husband entered the dining room; he received his serving of breakfast with a slight nod of thanks from their live in maid. Sasuke then turned towards his wife with a single brow raised,

"You're up rather early this morning…" He commented as Sakura nonchalantly flipped the pages of the paper. Sasuke pointed at her untouched plate with a fork,

"Sakura, you should eat before breakfast gets cold. The paper won't be running away from you anytime soon." He advised before turning his attention back towards his own plate. Sakura folded the paper and placed it by the side of the table,

"Sorry, darling. There was quite an intriguing piece of news written in today's paper." She apologised as she buttered up her toast. Sasuke inclined his head slightly, a signal for her to continue.

"It seems that there has been a string of murders recently; the latest one being the baker's daughter from the middle of town. The victims were killed right in their own home, you know? It's scary to think that anyone could enter the house without making a single sound." Sakura explained with a slight shudder before she continued,

"But you know what, darling? The strangest parts of these murders were how these girls were killed. It seems that they were killed in a 'merciful' fashion… They weren't tortured, but instead given an instant death." She told her husband as she took a bite of the toast. She chewed, deep in thought,

"What I don't understand is why the murderer took a body part from each of them; heart, liver, stomach, sometimes even their hands or feet! Do you think that the murderer's taking them as some sort of trophy?" She wondered as she turned expectant green eyes at her husband who had been staring thoughtfully at her. He slowly shook his head,

"Dear, I wouldn't know what a murderer could be thinking about." He assured her. Sakura laughed gently,

"Sorry. It's just that it's an interesting case. If I was as healthy as I used to be, I would be the one examining the bodies, you know?" She sighed wistfully. Sasuke's grip on his utensils tightened minutely,

"You know that you're going to be fine, Sakura. I know that you'll get better soon." He told her. She turned sad eyes onto him,

"Darling, I've been a doctor for so many years. I have an extensive knowledge of the human body and the diseases that infect it. From my professional standpoint, I know that I only have months left on this earth; from my personal standpoint, I feel weaker and weaker every single day…" She explained. Sasuke looked away and glared at nothing in particular. Sakura reached over the table and grabbed his hands,

"Instead of fighting, I'd rather us to spend as much time together, to create memories that you can keep forever when I'm gone. I want to love you as much as my entire being would allow and more. Please, would you promise me this?" She whispered lovingly. Sasuke's gaze softened and he nodded his head at her. He held her hands together and placed a kiss atop of them,

"You know that I'd do anything for you, my love." He whispered. At that moment, a messenger appeared through the doorway, with the maid behind him.

"Uchiha-san, the university wishes to discuss your scientific findings that you've sent them a month ago." The messenger announced. Sasuke glared darkly at him,

"Tell them that I wish to spend time with my wife. They should have called earlier…" He instructed the messenger. The messenger looked stricken,

"Uchiha-san, they said that it was important that you see them today! I apologise for coming in between you and your wife, but it the university has told me that it was most vital that you visited them today." The poor messenger pleaded. Sasuke looked as if he was about to drag the poor guy through hell and back when the small hands in his grip nudged him softly. Sasuke turned back towards his wife. Sakura shook her head and then gave him a small smile,

"Go to the university, Sasuke. I'll be fine here. We'll have plenty of time to spend when you get back from the university." She insisted. She turned towards the messenger,

"Don't you worry; my husband will be at the university as soon as possible." She declared. The messenger sighed in relieve and tipped his hat at the kind doctor before he followed the maid back towards the main entrance. Sasuke sighed as the messenger left,

"You'll be alright on your own? If you need anything, please just ask Maria (the maid) to get it for you, okay?" He asked worriedly as he stood. Sakura nodded her head,

"Don't worry; I know how to take care of myself. Now go, before the university send someone else to physically drag you there." She joked as she made a shooing motion with her hands. Sasuke nodded before he bent down to place a kiss on her forehead,

"I'll be back soon." He promised as he made his way out of the dining room. Sakura shook her head with a smile before she continued with her breakfast, her mind on the recent string of murders and her husband's strange disappearances.

* * *

It was late at night and Sakura was reading alone in the drawing room of their house. Nestled under blankets as a thunderstorm raged outside, Sakura felt immensely comfortable. Maria, the maid was sent an urgent message from home telling her that her mother was incredibly ill. Sakura took pity on the poor woman and dismissed her for the night. Sakura placed the book down on the stand beside the chair she was sitting on and massaged her temples tiredly. Ever since the disease invaded her body, Sakura was rather prone to fatigue. Her once above average strength was also sapped from her; she could barely life a jug of water without straining the muscles in her arms. Sakura laughed humourlessly at the memories of her dominating the arm wrestling matches that were held at the nearby tavern, ah the good days…

All of a sudden, her ears picked up the faint sounds of footsteps in the house. Reports and images of the recent murders immediately flashed through her mind. Lightning flashed outside and Sakura thought that it was incredibly cliché for a serial killer to be in her house during a thunderstorm. She shook her head to rid it of morbid thoughts and chastised herself for having an over imaginative brain. _'It's probably just Sasuke back from the university.'_ She assured herself silently,

"Darling, is that you?" She called out for her husband. No reply, but the footsteps were getting louder. _'Weird, he wouldn't usually be this loud when he walks.'_ She thought anxiously. Her eyes flew towards her husband's katana above the mantelpiece. _'It would probably be better if I arm myself in case there really is a serial killer in the house.'_ She tightened her grip on the arms of the chair. Using all the strength she had, she heaved herself up into a standing position, only to regret it as a sense of vertigo attacked her. She lost balance of herself and felt herself falling towards the floor. _'Shit.'_ Was all she could think of as she braced herself for the impact with her eyes closed. It never came, in fact, she felt warm arms wrapped around her protectively instead. Slowly, she peeked open an eye and relief washed through her as she saw that it was her husband who had caught her fall,

"Darling… you gave me quite the scare." She breathed out. His gaze was full of concern as he sat her back down on the chair,

"Are you alright, Sakura? You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" He kneeled and questioned her. She shook her head no,

"I'm fine. A little shaken, but otherwise fine…" She assured him. Sakura then let out a shaky laugh,

"For a moment there, I really thought that there was a serial killer in the house." She confessed sheepishly. Sasuke ruffled her pink hair affectionately as he stood back up,

"He's not a serial killer… He just wants the best body parts that he could get his hands on, you see." Sasuke informed her as he walked towards the mantelpiece, where the katana was. He then took it down and unsheathed it to inspect the blade. Sakura eyed him warily as he stroked the blade to test its sharpness. The blade sliced his finger slightly which caused Sasuke to suck gently on the wound. Sakura backed away slightly; her husband was acting weird,

"Whatever do you mean, Sasuke-kun? I thought that you wouldn't know what a murderer could be thinking about?" She inquired as she repeated the very words he had given her that morning. Sasuke turned around, eyes still on the blade as he stalked towards her. Sakura backed further into the chair,

"S-Sasuke-kun?" She whispered worryingly. Sasuke looked at her; his eyes showed slight remorse,

"I promise that it won't hurt Sakura. I love you…" He whispered back.

And then he swung the sword at her…

* * *

"Master, the body is set up and the conditions are perfect. All we need to attach is the final piece, the madam's head." A raspy voice spoke up. Sasuke spared his homunculus, his greatest scientific achievement yet, a glance before he opened the ice box on his desk and removed a bundle from it. He slowly revealed Sakura's severed head,

"Everything is going to be better for you now, my dear Sakura. You'll be perfectly healthy again. It was just a temporary sleep." Sasuke whispered as he pressed a gentle kiss on his her cold lips.

"Darling, it's time for you to wake up now."

 _~Up next, Day 9~_


	9. A Deadly Addiction

A/N: And this would be the last submission for the horror/angst theme of week 1! I had a lot of fun writing these stories and might have delved slightly into insanity… Now that I'm immersed in the genre, I'm finding it hard to make a switch for next week's theme of comedy. I'm doomed… On an unrelated note, do enjoy :)

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

 **Warning: It is hella gory at some parts, I think… So, this is a trigger warning?**

* * *

 _ **Day 9: "That Would Be Enough"**_

* * *

Amongst society's richest, two pair of eyes shared a look as sinister grins threatened to spill onto their face… The manor stood on a cliff, its drawing room faced the turbulent seas as waves rushed at the jagged rocks some hundred feet below. It stood proud as the storm raged on; lightning cracked and streaked across the dark skies in a flash of bright light as the thunder boomed after it like drums, the wind howling and as it threatened to uproot the trees that surrounded the manor. It was a special occasion at the manor; society's elites gathered amongst themselves that night for a wonderful dinner. Inside the brightly lit manor, no one paid any attention to the storm outside, instead they chattered gaily to one another. They had all agreed to stay the night as no one dared to venture into the storm outside, even with a carriage, the storm was simply too strong that night. After dinner, the guests had been invited to the drawing room to settle down…

It was well into the night as the men barked in laughter and the ladies gasped delicately behind their fans from the stories that were being exchanged. To pass the time as well as to impress the ladies with their masculinity, the men had begun telling each other horror stories,

"-and when I turned around, there was a face staring right back at me from the darkness!" A young lawyer exclaimed just as lightning struck. It was followed instantaneously by a deafening roar of thunder, which sent the ladies screaming in fright. The men teased them,

"Ladies, calm yourselves, please. It was but thunder, that's all."

"Seriously, you women are so easily startled."

"Well, you men were the ones telling those horrible stories about ghosts and monsters killing people!" A lady huffed out, slightly miffed. Ashamed, the men apologised for their crudeness. A somewhat stiff silence blanketed the party. Someone cleared their throats in order to dispel the awkwardness,

"Well, we've heard stories about the supernatural killing men. However, would there be anybody here with the experience of killing someone else themselves?" He joke and laughter rang about. A slightly older gentleman chuckled,

"Well, I am a doctor with many years of practice under my belt. So, it wouldn't be surprising that throughout my career men have perished under my care. Does that count?" He joked.

"Not that it would be due to incompetency from my part, but because they didn't have that much time left or due to complications on the operating table." He quickly added and the cheerful mood quickly returned.

"I guess that does qualify then, doctor! But I am certain that no one in our educated and distinguished group has ever killed a man with the intention of doing so!" The host of the party commented and wine was toasted in agreement. Everything was going well until a clear voice rang out,

"How about forty?" She inquired and almost everyone turned to look at her. A woman dressed in dark blue; her pink hair in a messy bun and a diamond necklace around her slender neck. She delicately took a sip of wine from her glass before she turned brilliant green eyes onto the staring crowd. The host stepped forward,

"Pardon me, Lady Uchiha. But what did you mean about 'forty'?" He quizzed. She chuckled satirically,

"You said that no one here has ever killed _a_ man with intention. My question was, how about forty men killed with intention? Well, both men and women really." She clarified as she swirled the wine in her glass. She had continued before anyone had the chance to speak up,

"It's a bad habit of mine, really, perhaps more like an addiction. You see, ladies and gentlemen, it brings me great pleasure to snuff out a life. It is a wonderful feeling you know, when you have complete and absolute control over someone's life. It's delightful as you watch the life disappear from their eyes. It depends though, because if you were to choke someone, you'll have front row seats to watch as their eyes roll back into their head… The whites of their eyes slowly speckled with the red of their blood as blood vessels pop is simply riveting." She described. She looked around at the horrified faces that stared back at her and grinned brightly,

"If you push someone to their death from a high place, you'll get the pleasure of hearing the squelching of their bodies as they come into contact with the ground below them. The gratifying feeling of the blade slicing past skin, flesh, and then muscle, right down to the bone…When done properly of course, is truly addicting." She illustrated verbally. Her eyes looked glazed over with lust and she had started rubbing her arms. At this point, everybody had turned their full attention to her, totally aghast at her words. Because here there was a lady of noble status in society describing murder as if she would describe her favourite book, play or even a lover. She licked her lips, stained red from her lipstick,

"Ah, do you know what the best part of killing someone is?" She addressed the crowd. No one replied, not like she was expecting anyone to anyways,

"The best part would be when the prey realise that they were completely and utterly doomed. That they had no chance of escaping us… Oops, slip of the tongue. I meant me." She muttered more to herself than to anyone else. The crowd raised their voices,

"Lady Uchiha, we've enough of your mischief! It's rather unladylike of you to spew such words!" An older lady chastised while others agreed with her.

"You've got a screw loose inside that head of yours, Lady Uchiha. I never thought that you'd be the kind of person to make such horrible jokes!" Another lady shouted.

"You're a disgrace to us elites! Lord Uchiha must have been deceived into marrying you!" A jealous lady accused.

"It's unfortunate, but Lord Uchiha should certainly have a tighter reign over his wife!" Some of the men jeered. She looked around and saw something that made her smirked. She turned back towards the outraged crowd,

"I was just buying time while certain conditions have been set. It wasn't a slip of the tongue when I said 'us', you know. You don't actually think that I work alone, do you? Anyways, let me describe to you how everything will go down, alright? To start off, the entire manor would be shrouded in darkness. It is then that we would attack, you know? Now, many of you would just scream, beg and cry for mercy. Some of you who think you're smart would offer us your riches." She took a breath.

"Meanwhile, some of you who think yourselves strong would attempt to fight back in hopes to overpower us. But we all know that most of you would try to escape, but it wouldn't be of any use because all the doors are locked and the help are dead. You could try the windows, but we all know you'll just be jumping to your deaths." She finished with a smile. This time, the host stepped forward,

"You must be pulling our legs, Lady Uchiha. You and your husband are amongst the most prominent of us elites." He started. He grew more confident with each word,

"I'm pretty sure that this was just your way of setting the atmosphere. You've indeed done a most spectacular job, if I must say so myself!" He exclaimed in an effort to diffuse the tense atmosphere. Her smile then turned sinister,

"No, I was not in fact pulling your legs. All that I have said is true; I've killed, at the very least, a total of forty men and women added together." She stated. She looked straight at the infuriated crowd,

"Who's to say that it wasn't just all part of our plan? To reveal ourselves to you so that we'd have no choice but to kill every single one of-" She was interrupted,

"That would be enough, Sakura. Not another word from you." The masculine voice instructed. The crowd turned their attention towards the figure who had spoken. Leaning against the doorframe, it was none other than her husband, Lord Uchiha Sasuke. The crowd sighed in relief; thank goodness the husband was here to control his lunatic of a wife…

Sasuke straightened himself and closed the door behind him just as a strong gust of wind blew the windows open, the action caused the ladies in the room to shriek in terror and surprise as the rain hit them while the men scrambled to close the windows. The action had also snuffed out all the candles in the room, leaving everyone in complete darkness. Lightning struck, illuminating the room for a while. Sasuke smirked,

"We wouldn't want to spoil the fun now, would we?" He teased. Sakura giggled and everything went dark once again…

 _~Up next, Day 10~_


	10. Your Words Don't Do Shit

A/N: Week 2 has the theme of Comedy…Something that I really suck at…Omg, I hope that you'll be able to read through my stories without cringing or a blank face. That being said; do enjoy the stories!

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

* * *

 _ **Day 10: "Haters Gonna Hate"**_

* * *

It was a chilly autumn morning. Sakura took a sip of her latte as she faced the street from the corner of the café. She had been granted a day off from the hospital in what seems like forever and she was making the most out of it. Dressed in cream coloured long sleeved shirt with an oversized navy blue university sweater over it, grey leggings, and knee high boots, Sakura was perfectly comfortable with her spot in the café. With thick rimmed glasses, brilliant green eyes peered over the words of the trashy romance novel that Ino had recommended her…

The chairs at the table next to her screeched against the floor and Sakura as well as the rest of the patrons of the café visibly grimaced at the piercing sound. Sakura glanced to her right at the customers who had decided to cause damage to her auditory system. To her surprise, it was none other than two women who had bullied her throughout her years in middle school. The brunette, Satomi, was laughing at something the blonde, Ayumi, had said. Satomi glanced over at Sakura's direction and her eyes widened in recognition. She waved a hand at Sakura who reluctantly waved back; this caused Ayumi to turn her head towards Sakura as well. From such a near distance, Sakura saw something sinister gleam in the blonde's clear brown eyes. Sakura heaved a mental sigh as they two women got out of their seats to join her at her table. _'There goes my day of relaxing…'_ Sakura thought glumly,

"Satomi, Ayumi." Sakura greeted them politely as they made themselves comfortable. Ayumi smiled sweetly at her,

"Why, if it isn't dear Haruno Sakura… You've not changed a single bit! You still look like how you did back during middle school, especially with those dorky thick glasses and messy hair of yours!" Ayumi commented as she began her passive-aggressive attacks.

"So, like a huge nerd?" Sakura stated flatly with a delicate brow raised. Ayumi waved the accusation away with a well-manicured hand,

"Why, I never said that." She defended looking positively taken aback. Sakura knew otherwise… Satomi giggled slightly at Ayumi's choice of attack. She turned towards Sakura,

"So, Sakura…How's life been treating you?" She inquired. Sakura was about to answer when she was interrupted by Ayumi's dramatic gasp of horror,

"Oh my god, look at your clothes! Dear, you look like you're wearing an old uni sweater! Perhaps it's something from a charity drive?" Ayumi exclaimed as she pointed towards Sakura's ensemble as if it were about to attack her. Sakura stared at her blankly,

"Wut."

Ayumi pushed onwards,

"If you'd like, I could always spare you some of my clothes like Chanel, Gucci, Burberry, and my D&G's that I don't wear anymore, if you could fit into it of course." Ayumi picked on her mercilessly. _'Her stripes are showing…'_ Sakura mused silently at the blonde in front of her. Sakura shook her head,

"No, it's quite alright. I mean, I don't have such _intense_ tastes anyways." Sakura turned down the offer with a pointed look at what Ayumi was wearing; a pink faux fur coat over a red lace dress and yellow tights, purple eyeshadow and vibrant red lipstick completed the look. Ayumi turned her nose up in pride,

"Right, darling? I'm always at the forefront of the latest trend!" She sniffed haughtily. _'Sure… at the forefront of the 1970's fashion trend, probably.'_ Sakura thought with a wince. She looked at Satomi who was gushing over Ayumi's outfit. _'Well, they sure have a huge sense of confidence; I'll give them that…'_ Sakura chuckled softly and got their attention on her again. Satomi leaned slightly forward,

"So, darling… We wanna know, have you done _'it'_ yet." She whispered conspiratorially. _'Done 'it'? The heck does that mean?'_ Sakura contemplated. Did they mean doing drugs? Murder? Bank robbing?!

"I'm sorry; could you be a bit more specific as to what _'it'_ is?" Sakura requested. Satomi rolled her eyes as if she was talking to a complete idiot,

"Getting a boyfriend, duh! What else could we be talking about?" Satomi explained, completely serious. Sakura could feel the bark of laughter that threatened to spill forth from her. How old were these women? 12? _'I CANNOT.'_ Sakura thought furiously as she wrapped her arms around her middle, desperately holding back the laughter. _'It hurts! My stomach hurts! I'll die if I don't laugh!'_ She considered as tears welled up in her eyes. The two women in front of her stared at her weirdly, in their memories; Sakura was just as or even weirder than she used to be. Finally, after several minutes of excruciating pain, Sakura finally managed to maintain her composure,

"Well actually, I'm-" She started before being cut short by Ayumi.

"Ohohoho~ don't be silly, Satomi. You know that the nerd doesn't even have what it takes to look at a guy straight in the eyes, much less date them!" Ayumi attacked. _'Wow, she's not bothered to be nice anymore.'_ Sakura mused impressively as she rested her chin on the palm of one hand. Ayumi flicked her blonde locks with a remarkable whip of her head that left Sakura awestruck (Sakura knew that she'd do serious damage if she ever picked up that skill),

"Don't you remember how obsessed she was over Uchiha Sasuke, the basketball captain? Oh god, it was so funny watching her trip over her words whenever she spoke to him!" Ayumi cackled. _'Oh, those were the good times'_ Sakura thought back affectionately. Really, she wasn't part of the conversation with them anymore, given how often she was being interrupted… Satomi squirmed excitedly in her seat,

Oh, right! Gosh Sakura, weren't you at all embarrassed when he paid you little to no attention? Oh my god, you looked so desperate!" Satomi cracked up and both women started laughing hysterically. _'Well, that's because Sasuke's a tsundere. We all know that he was just incredibly shy at expressing emotions.'_ Sakura reflected fondly as she watched the two women in front of her doubled over in laughter.

Sakura almost jumped three feet into the air when a hand was placed on her shoulder. She looked behind to see that it was none other than Uchiha Sasuke that stood behind her. He muttered an apology for surprising her and she smiled brightly at him. He looked towards the two women who were still having a riot in confusion; Sakura just shook her head. She knew from personal experience how it'd felt when she couldn't get the laughter out of her system. Sasuke shrugged,

"Sakura, you left your watch and scarf back at home. And if you could, quit stealing my favourite sweater." His eyed the sweater that she wore as he handed her the items. His deep voice shocked the two women out of their laughing fit and they stared at him in shock as Sasuke leaned down to place a chaste kiss on Sakura's lips. She lifted a delicate pink brow at him in amusement and he just shrugged. Oh well, she never complained whenever Sasuke decided to show his affections in public… Sasuke straightened and turned his gaze towards Sakura's _'friends'_. Sakura cleared her throat,

"Sasuke, these are Satomi and Ayumi from our middle school." She introduced. She then turned towards the blonde and brunette and gestured towards Sasuke,

"Ladies, this would be Uchiha Sasuke, ex-captain of the basketball team… He's also my husband." She announced cheerfully as her wedding ring gleamed brightly. Suddenly, her phone beeped as she received a message. She quickly read through the message before she turned towards her husband,

"Darling, I've got to get to the hospital now." She declared before she started packing her belongings and finishing off the last bit of her latte. He helped her with her bag,

"What happened?" Sasuke questioned as he made space for his wife to stand up. She pinched the bridge of her nose,

"Naruto got injured as he fell down a flight of stairs and he's rejecting treatments unless it's from me. It's nothing serious seeing as how he has the energy to make a fuss… But it is better that I get there now." She explained. Sasuke nodded his head,

"I'll drive you there." He stated and Sakura thanked him. She turned back towards the two positively stunned women,

"Oh, and girls, it was…nice talking to you. But you must excuse me, I have to leave." Sakura excused herself before she and her husband made their way out. Ayumi flushed red,

"Haruno! Don't think you're better than us just because you managed to snatch a guy and a job, you get it?! You'll always be the weak little girl back in middle school!" She voiced out. Sakura spared her a glance before she barked out a laugh,

"Haters gonna hate!" She told them before the door slammed shut behind her. Ayumi and Satomi sat in shock as they attempted to process what had just happened. Since when was Haruno Sakura on first name basis with the mayor of Konoha?

 _~Up next, Day 11~_


	11. Fated Encounter

A/N: Ahahahaha? I tried my best :3 I know that I could've expanded a lot more… But I'm so tired already… Anyways, do enjoy.

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

* * *

 _ **Day 11: Airbnb**_

* * *

The quaint countryside was a sight to behold; fields of lavender surrounded the simple double storey house, the calming scent infused into the very air. The peace, however, was shattered when a shrill exclamation of _"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"_ pierced through. Inside the house, a young lady could be seen with her mouth gaping open in shock with the young man besides her sporting an annoyed frown as the elderly couple in front of them bowed slightly in apology…

Haruno Sakura ran a hand through her pink tresses in disbelief. Of all the scenarios she had conjured in her mind, this was definitely not one of it… The elderly couple in front of her, Mr. and Mrs. Blanc had just informed her and the stranger beside her that, due to an unfortunate incident with the previous occupant, one of the two rooms hosted had to be renovated. The incident had previously happened the day before, hence, there wasn't enough time to inform their next clients. Mrs. Blanc had then informed them in a grave voice that one of them might have to search for an alternate accommodation. Normally, that would mean that the clients who had arrived earlier would get dibs on the room… However, by the biggest stroke of coincidence, both their clients had arrived at the exact same time. Hence the current dilemma…

"I stepped through the doorway first." The young man voiced out immediately and Sakura stared at him incredulously. _'What a gentleman.'_ Was the sarcastic thought that ran through her mind. Sakura scoffed and folded her arms in front of her defensively.

The young man turned his attention towards her, with a brow delicately raised. Sakura bristled at the look; he was mocking her, she could feel it! And by the devilish smirk that was on his absolutely gorgeous infuriating face, he was daring her to challenge him! _'Like hell I'm going down without a fight!'_ Sakura thought with gritted teeth. She exhaled to release the tension that had built up inside her and turned towards the hosts with the biggest pout she could muster,

"I'm sorry; I really do need the room! I've got a grade that's riding on this; it would determine if I were to advance to the next year!" She pleaded, playing on their empathy. The elderly couple shared a look of guilt and Mr. Blanc shook his head,

"I'm sorry, dear. I really am… But the young gent did state that he came through the door first and to both my missus and I, that counted as him arriving first. It's a pity miss, but you'd have to find another place to stay at… of course you'll be wholly refunded." He told her. Sakura shook her head in disbelief,

"The nearest town is at least an hour's drive from here… By the time I get here on foot, it'll be dusk." She moaned at the unfairness of it all. The good looking stranger had them under his spell with his bewitching good looks! Mrs. Blanc raised her eyebrows in shock,

"Walk?! Don't be silly, you could catch a cab from town to here! Didn't you bring enough money for a vacation to cover other expenses? Also, I doubt that you'd like to visit the lavender fields all the time, there's plenty of other attractions in town!" She said in an effort to comfort the visibly depressed girl. Sakura shook her head sadly,

"I'm a poor art student; I came here to capture the beauty of the countryside, the lavender fields especially… Besides, the extra cash that I brought would just about cover both my food and accommodation for my week here since I won't be refunded directly from you, but from the company instead." She explained her eyes downcast. She had tried her best to emotionally soften them, but it seems that they'll be sticking firmly to their policies. Sakura shrugged, pulling her luggage closer to her, it'll be better if she quickly make her way towards town before the road turn dark…

"…Wait. Maybe…maybe there's a way we could work out this out." A masculine voice spoke. Sakura halted her thoughts to stare at the stranger in hopefulness. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his aristocratic nose,

"What if we shared a room?" He asked the hosts before he turned towards her. Sakura's mind blanked for a moment. _'Did he really just suggest that?'_ She thought before a sense of giddy happiness washed over her. Maybe her words did soften someone after all… The hosts contemplated for a moment before smiling brightly at them,

"We have no problems with it if the two of you don't. Of course, we'll allow you to split the bill on the charges of rooming amongst yourselves." They conceded. Sakura could leap in overwhelming gratefulness! She immediately took the couple's hands in hers,

"Thank you, thank you so much! I'm truly grateful!" She sobbed. Without thinking through it, she pulled back and leapt into the stranger and encased him in her arms,

"You're my life saviour! I owe you my life!" She all but cried as he stood absolutely still in her arms. Slowly, he lifted a hand to awkwardly pat her on the back which caused her to pull back in embarrassment. Her face flushed red, Sakura mumbled an apology. Mrs. Blanc chuckled under her breath and showed them to the room.

* * *

The situation had been slightly tense and awkward as the both of them got used to the other's presence. Uchiha Sasuke, Sakura had learned, slept on the right side of the bed (He had immediately called dibs on it as soon as they were left alone in the room. Not that Sakura could argue; he'd practically save her life and grades after all). Besides that, he was also a very tidy person which Sakura thanked profusely to the heavens for. Although he was a quiet person, he had been respectful with all the questions that she had asked, even asking a few of his own.

Through the course of dinner on the first day and breakfast on the second day, she managed to get to know the stranger she was currently sharing a bed with. Apparently, Sasuke's brother was the main reason why Sasuke was even here at all. The concerned older sibling had managed to convince his little brother to take a break after finals (Sasuke's a second year at law school and Sakura suspects that this is why he's so good at arguing). Sasuke would be staying at the countryside for a little more than two weeks to focus on his hobby, photography.

Sasuke then grilled Sakura mercilessly (also another trait that Sakura suspected stemmed from studying law) and found out the reason that she was there. Sakura's a second year art student and she was painting the lavender fields for her final semester project. Hence why she was so desperate to get a room there… Sakura was only staying for a week before she was due to return to the university to prepare for her exams. Sakura teased him that she'd be out of his hair in no time. Overall, they managed to stay out of each other's way and go on about their own business. The only major accident that happened between the both of them was what Sakura affectionately labelled as 'The Wet Dream'™. This was how 'The Wet Dream'™ went about…

* * *

It was their third day, Sakura had gone out early in the morning to catch the enchanting of scenery of the lavender fields bathed in the morning glow of the sun. By the afternoon, Sakura had decided to retreat back into the house to escape the heat. She had barged into the room because Sasuke had told her the night before that he had planned to spend the next day in town and she didn't expect him to be back so soon. She had opened the door to a show of her lifetime…

Forever burned into her mind was the memory of Sasuke coming out of a bath with only a towel around his slender hips. Insert water droplets and sexy hair galore. Sakura couldn't tear her gaze from the water droplets as they travelled down form the tips of his jet black hair onto his broad shoulders, past his well-developed abdomen down towards his inverted triangle before they disappeared tantalizingly below the towel. Sasuke wasn't wearing his contacts then and the intense gaze that he sent in her direction almost sealed her death right there and then.

Sakura choked out an apology as she slammed the door behind her, her legs weak and her heart thumping loudly as the adrenaline coursed through her. On one hand, she just wanted someone to end her life there and then as it was the single most embarrassing moment of her life. On the other hand, she wanted to thank whatever deity that had given her the opportunity to lay her eyes on that sin of a body. Whatever it was, Sakura had then found herself in front of Mrs. Blanc who provided her first aid treatment for the nosebleed she had sported. Sakura blamed the afternoon heat and Mrs. Blanc was none the wiser, instead sending Sakura to the room she shared with her husband for a much needed rest. Sakura couldn't look Sasuke in the eyes for the next few days without the image flashing through her mind. If Sasuke noticed, he never commented on the way she blushed from head to toe whenever they were in the same room.

* * *

It was Sakura's last day in the countryside before she was due to leave the next morning and she had decided to spend her last day with Sasuke. They had decided to visit town since Sakura had never stepped a foot into it before. They had lunch together in a café before Sasuke accompanied Sakura with her souvenir shopping. To both their delight, they found that they never minded each other's company, and could go as far as to say that they enjoyed it even. It was in a park where Sasuke had treated her to some gelato when they decided to exchange numbers and emails to keep in touch and maybe get to know each other better. As they enjoyed their frozen treat, both of them agreed that this experience of theirs wasn't that bad after all, even under the circumstances they had met in.

 _~Up next, Day 12~_


	12. Sandy Day

A/N: Hahahaha… I'm sorry. Lol, I am so late for this… Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

* * *

 _ **Day 12: Shade**_

* * *

"Uwahh… It's the beach, I can see the ocean!" A certain blond exclaimed with his arms wide open, his fellow classmates chorused in agreement. Class 2-A of Konoha High had decided to take a day trip to the beach for some stress relief. Beside Naruto, even Sasuke was grateful for the small vacation that the class came up with; everyone looked pretty much dead after their finals. Together with the pressure of becoming third years once summer was over, it took very little to make the students of class 2-A break down in tears.

"Alright guys, let's get set up before the sun gets too hot!" A feminine voice advised. Sasuke turned his head towards their class representative, Haruno Sakura before he too made his way to help get their belongings from the bus. Sasuke felt the side of his lips twitched upwards slightly into a small smile; Sakura was the perfect student; law abiding, smart and responsible.

Sasuke considered himself smart and athletic; it was just that he was a bit of an introvert. He had never found the interest to befriend anyone in his class, after all, he was just in school to get the best grades and graduate before working in his father's company. That was until their homeroom teacher had assigned him to work with Sakura on a class project. Sakura, he found, was very open towards him yet respectful that she didn't pry hard into his personal life. Also, she had managed to somehow include him into her group of friends and ever so slightly, Sasuke found that he had a circle of friends. Sasuke sneaked a peek to Sakura who was walking beside him as she chattered with Naruto; and if his suspicions were correct, he (Sasuke) had developed some feelings for her…

The trio stopped short as they reached where the rest of class 2-A had settled down. There were exactly three shaded spots left for them… It was either beside Yamanaka Ino, Hyuuga Hinata or Inuzuka Kiba. Sakura placed her hands on her hips,

"As much as I love Ino, I'm not about to sit beside her when she's on Sai's lap. She'll be too busy vacuuming Sai's face with her lips to talk to me anyways…" She declared with a grimace. The two boys nodded their heads sagely; they knew where she was coming from,

"Well, I'm not about to share a shade with Inuzuka. He's brought Akamaru along today…" Sasuke started before he turned towards Sakura,

"Is that even allowed?" He asked her. Sakura shrugged,

"It's not a school event so yeah, it's allowed." She told him. Sasuke turned back towards Kiba,

"I'm more of a cat person… Besides, The Hyuuga girl is quiet, which is I something that I appreciate." Sasuke stated as he turned towards Hinata. A tan arm grabbed him back forcefully and Sasuke found cerulean blue eyes pleading at him.

"No, teme! You cannot! I have to sit beside Hinata! It has always been my dream to share a shade with her at the beach! It'll be so romantic!" Naruto gushed as he clasped his hands in front and stared at Hinata with starry eyes. Sasuke rolled his eyes,

"Dobe, you can always share a shade with those fangirls of yours. You know how they'd kill for a seat next to you anyways." Sasuke voiced out as he stared pointedly at the big umbrella that shaded some of Naruto's fangirls who were staring at said blond unabashedly. Naruto waved back in uncertainty and the sharps squeals of _'Naruto-sama!'_ could be heard. Naruto looked back at Sasuke with determined eyes,

"No, teme. I have to sit beside Hinata! Really, she's the only girl I wanna share a romantic shade!" He declared with his chest puffed out. Sakura was silent for a while as the two boys bickered,

"So, we all wanna sit with Hinata and there's only one shade there?" Sakura inquired cautiously. She received nods from both guys,

"Okay then." She said before she took off in Hinata's direction. Sasuke and Naruto took a split second to react before they too took off after Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, I didn't take you for a cheater!" Naruto yelled as both guys easily caught up with her. 'Damn their long legs!' Sakura thought vehemently. In front of her, the two guys started bickering again. It escalated as Naruto shoved at Sasuke who, in turn shoved back harder. They were nearing Hinata when Naruto tripped over the sandcastle that Aburame Shino had constructed. Unwilling to let Sasuke defeat him, Naruto latched on to Sasuke's torso and the two of them tumbled down face first into the sand. Sakura chuckled as she leapt over them to Hinata's side.

Naruto and Sasuke apologised profusely to the Shino who was depressed that nobody had noticed his sandcastle. Why did Shino have a hooded jacket on in this heat anyways? The only part of his face that they could see had also been obstructed by a pair of inky black sunglasses. Both Naruto and Sasuke turned towards Sakura who had snagged her spot beside Hinata; she flashed them a bright smile and two victory signs. Dejected, Sasuke quickly made his way towards Kiba, leaving Naruto with Ino and Sai. Naruto sat down dejectedly with his knees pulled up and drew umbrellas with his and Hinata's name underneath it on the sand with his fingers.

Tenten made her way towards Sakura and Hinata with a volleyball twirling on her right index finger,

"Hey girls, up for a game of volleyball with Lee and I?" She invited them. Both Sakura and Hinata casted a look at each other before they nodded at Tenten. Tenten grinned brightly at them,

"Great! Lee, get ready for a match!" She called out towards a young man clad in a green jumpsuit. He flashed the girls a megawatt smile and thumbs up which caused the girls to giggle. The girls stood up to strip into their swimsuits. Near them, Kiba smirked at Hinata's direction,

"Boy would I love to see the Hyuuga chick's hot bod! Even in her school uniform, her melons are just so bouncy! Imagine her in her swimsuit!" Kiba leered and Sasuke could almost see the saliva dripping down his chin. Unfortunately for Kiba, Hinata left her jacket on top of her lavender coloured one piece as she showed off her shapely legs. Kiba clicked his tongue, unsatisfied. He turned towards Sakura and a wide smirk appeared on his face, Kiba then jerked a thumb in Sakura's direction,

"How much are we betting that the class rep will be a total prude? She's so strict that she'll probably be wearing a diving suit under all her clothes!" He teased as a few other boys laughed along with him. Sasuke gritted his teeth; he really didn't like the Inuzuka… Sakura stood to remove her jeans and t-shirt, and when she did, the entire class of 2-A had to take a double look. Sakura, their strict class rep was sporting a bold black halter neck two piece. Jaws dropped and Sasuke had to swallow because of the dryness in his throat. No one expected their usually conservative class rep own a two piece swimsuit. Not only that, but Sakura was rocking it incredibly. Her swimsuit accentuated her modest curves at just the right places; she wasn't as flat chested as everyone had thought. But the biggest shock factor was the toned stomach that she sported; it seems like their class rep work out regularly. Kiba wolf whistled,

"Damn Haruno, who knew you'd have such a great body?" He commented as he eyed her up and down. Sakura rolled her eyes and proceeded to ignore him. Ino who was nearby chose to defend her best friend,

"Oh, do shut up Kiba. You're such an ass!" She yelled and had some of their classmates agreeing with her. Kiba chose to brush them off,

"Hey Haruno, how about a competition? You and Hinata against Sasuke and me? Winners get to order the losers around for a week!" He yelled out. Sakura turned back, her interest peaked,

"Oh yeah, you sure you're up for it?" She challenged him but her eyes were on Sasuke who looked insulted at the fact that Kiba had teamed them both together. Sakura chuckled at her poor friend and decided to lighten his mood,

"Hey Sasuke, if you win, I'll let you have my spot next to Hinata." She proposed. Sasuke stopped glaring daggers behind Kiba and looked up in surprise as Naruto wailed loudly in the background. Was she really wagering that? This is too good to be true; he'll finally get away from Kiba. But then again, won't that mean that Sakura has to sit beside Kiba instead? Can he get Hinata to move instead if he won? No, he wouldn't want either girl next to Kiba. But the offer was hard to resist…

"If I win, you have to go out on a date with me, Haruno!" Kiba challenged and all of Sasuke's doubt flew out of the window. _'Nope, I won't be helping him win after all.'_ Sasuke decided resolutely with a nod. Sakura nodded towards Tenten,

"Tenny, Lee, you don't mind if Hinata wipe the beach with them first? I promise we wouldn't take too long." Sakura said as she cast Tenten and Rock Lee a look of apology. Tenten winked at them,

"No problem Saks, just knock 'em dead! Lee and I will be cheering from the side." Tenten expressed as she gave them two thumbs up. Rock Lee pumped his fist into the air,

"Yosh, Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan, may the spirit of youth flow brightly within you! Best of luck to the both of you!" He cheered.

As Sakura had promised, the match ended at a record pace. Whenever Kiba made to attack, Sasuke would conveniently be there to 'assist' him by bumping into him or tripping the poor guy. The Uchiha had also conveniently passed the ball over the net in such a way that it was easy for the girls to spike. Whenever the ball neared him, Sasuke was always conveniently just out of reach. Although, it wasn't really that tough to help the Inuzuka fail since the girls were pretty strong themselves. Hinata had a talent of blocking; the ball could never touch their side of the field. And whenever Sakura spiked the ball, it always created a hole in the sand on the boy's side.

Not more than 15 minutes later, the boy's team was thoroughly defeated with a score of 24-5 in the girl's favour. Everyone cheered as Kiba slumped into the sand in defeat with Sasuke with his arms crossed around his chest, a smirk present on his face. Sakura walked towards where Kiba was slumped on the floor,

"There, there Kiba. It isn't your fault that you're bad at volleyball, you know." Sakura jested as she patted his shoulder comfortingly. Sasuke rolled his eyes, leave it to Sakura to sympathise with the losers. By the way, where was his pat anyways…? Kiba sighed,

"Alright Haruno, what would you like me to do for the entire week?" He conceded. Sakura smirked and bent down close to his ear,

"I'd love you to…" She trailed off seductively, her breath ghosting the shell of his ear and Kiba shivered slightly.

"Yeah, you'd love me to what?" He prompted. Sakura smirked at him and leaned in closer. Kiba could hardly contain his glee while Sasuke's mood declined rapidly. Sakura inhaled and Kiba shuddered in delight,

"I'd love you to…Start revising your work. Honestly, Kakashi-sensei was so worried about your grades, you know?" Sakura told him as she backed off. Kiba stared at her in open-mouthed shock. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, very much looking like a fish,

"W-What?" He finally managed to choke out and Sasuke snorted ungracefully. Sakura 'tsked' at Kiba,

"I'll ask you for more as the week go by, like stop looking up the girl's skirts and such. But first, you've gotta buck up on your studies. I heard Kakashi-sensei was planning a make-up test for you soon." She advised him and that was when everyone lost it. People were screaming in pure unadulterated glee at the boy's humiliation. Kiba could only bury his face in his hands in shame as Hinata approached him,

"Don't worry Kiba-kun. A week will pass by quite fast." She reassured him. Tenten high-fived Sakura and Ino 'whooped' in joy. Sakura turned her attention towards Sasuke and he took a step back at her sudden gaze. She smiled gently at him,

"I'll deal with you later." She told him before she turned back towards Tenten.

"Let's have our game now, shall we?" She proposed and this time a lot more of their classmates joined them.

* * *

It was sunset and everyone was heading back towards the bus after they cleaned up the mess they had made. Everyone had spent a very fun day at the beach as they had filled the rest of the afternoon with other activities like swimming, snorkelling and having a picnic. Sasuke walked beside Sakura as the both of them followed their fellow classmates. Sasuke cleared his throat,

"So, you wanted a word with me?" He questioned as he stared at their shadows in front of them. Sakura smiled and motioned for him to stop, he did. Sakura turned her body to face him fully.

"Don't you think for a moment that I didn't notice what you did, Uchiha Sasuke. You were dead set on making Kiba lose, weren't you?" She quizzed and Sasuke was mesmerized at the way the setting sun casted a warm glow on her face. He broke out of his reverie however when she waved a hand in front of his face. He felt the tips of his ears burning and he looked away,

"Yeah… Sorry about that. I didn't know what got into me." He did. Sakura sighed as she brushed the bangs from his eyes,

"Although I'm a little insulted that you didn't believe in Hinata and me, I'm also glad that you cared. Just, try not to do it again?" She looked at him in earnest and Sasuke couldn't find it in himself to tell her 'no'. Instead, he nodded his head in agreement. Sakura nudged him in the shoulder,

"You're a good guy, Sasuke." She told him. Sasuke smirked at her,

"So, was that your first order for me?" He teased her. She shook her head,

"No, that's just us speaking as friends. But, for my first order…" She clasp her hand gently around his larger one,

"Maybe we could start with us holding hands on the walk back to the bus?" She inquired gently with a tilt of her head in the general direction of the bus. Sasuke didn't need to be told twice as he switched the position of their hands so that they're fingers entwined instead of hers holding on to him. He brought their joined hands up and placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles. His inky black eyes locked onto her jade green ones,

"If I had it my way, I would never let this hand go."

 _~Up next, Day 13~_


	13. I Just Want To Relax!

A/N: …Yeah. I know. It's way past July 13 at this point. . Oh well! *tosses fic* Enjoy anyways!

 **P.S: Thanks to the anon who corrected me on the chapter posted! So sorry you all had the wrong chapter to read! The real one is up. :)**

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

* * *

 _ **Day 13: Treat Yo Self**_

* * *

It was her day off in what felt like weeks and Sakura was determined to spend it pampering herself. The day had started with her waking up at 9 in the morning and she smiled at the still sleeping figure beside her; it was one of those rare days that her husband worked from home. She headed towards the kitchen to prepare breakfast for the both of them; something she rarely had the chance to do since her hectic schedule at the hospital meant that she was home at the most unusual of times. Setting the plate of toast, eggs, bacon and tomatoes down at the table, she grinned at her husband's zombie like entry into the kitchen, his nose leading him straight towards the pot of coffee she had started.

"Morning, sleepyhead. Did you sleep well?" Sakura greeted cheerfully and accepted the mug of coffee that Sasuke handed at her, he grunted in reply as he took a seat at the table. Sakura sat down and was about to take a bite of her toast when her phone beeped as it received a message. She quickly read through the message before she heaved a sigh,

"Looks like the hospital needs me. Hopefully I'll be back by noon…" Sakura told Sasuke as she downed the rest of her coffee and heading towards the bedroom for a change of clothes. Grabbing her set of keys, she bent down to give her husband a quick peck on his cheek,

"You can have my share, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called out, referring to her own untouched plate before slamming the door behind her.

xxx

It was nearly one in the afternoon before Sakura came back. She opened the door with a doughnut between her teeth and Sasuke looked up from where he was working his laptop on the couch.

"Welcome home, Sakura." He ruffled her hear affectionately as she slumped onto the couch next to him. She finished off her doughnut,

"I'm so beat, Sasuke. I just want to relax and pamper myself on my day off!" She groaned, tucking herself into her husband's side. He placed his laptop to the side before wrapping his arms around her,

"I've managed to book a table at your favourite restaurant for us tonight. We'll have a nice dinner, alright?" He promised as he massaged her shoulders. Sakura perked up,

"Really Sasuke-kun, that's great news! It's so hard to book a table there! I'm so lucky to have such a caring husband!" She exclaimed as she hugged him back. Sasuke chuckled,

"Do you need time to prepare? You always seem to take so long picking out an outfit…" He reminded her. Sakura smacked him lightly in the shoulder,

"Don't tease, Sasuke-kun. But yes, I wanna changed my nail polish and maybe have a facial before our date tonight!" She gushed excitedly. Sasuke gave her an amused look,

"So, it's a date then?" He questioned with his lips in a smirk. Sakura huffed and crossed her arms in front of her,

"We're married, dumb dumb. Of course it's a date! Just you wait, I'll blow you away with my beauty tonight!" She promised with a nod of her head. Sasuke snorted before his eyes softened on her,

"Sakura, you're always beautiful…" He started. And Sakura 'awwed',

"Go on, flatter me more. You know how much flattery works on me." She teased him. Sasuke cupped the side of her head and she leaned into it,

"You're always so beautiful…Especially in the morning when you have drool running down your chin." He finished with a smirk. Sakura looked at him in mocked outrage,

"You ass! I can't believe I married as ass of a husband!" She jokingly grumbled as she made her way back to their bedroom.

"I have a fine ass and you love it anyways!" Sasuke called out behind her.

"Damn right I do!" Her reply came from the room.

xxx

Sakura giggled at Sasuke's look of concentration as he applied a layer of pastel pink nail polish onto her right fingers. Sasuke looked up at his wife's green face (she was doing a facial as she had promised), annoyed.

"Wife, if you as much as giggle, I'll probably get the layer smudged. Do you want that to happen?" He questioned as he focused on the little brush. Sakura covered her mouth with her other hand,

"No ma'am, I do not want that to happen. I promise I'll behave." Her voice muffled by her hand. Sasuke 'tsked' and grabbed the offending appendage from her mouth,

"Don't do that, the polish hasn't dried completely yet. You of all people should be aware of that!" He chided her. Sakura shook her head at Sasuke's bout of perfectionism. Well, thanks to him, her nails were objects of envy… Suddenly, there was a knock on the door,

"Who is it?" Sakura called out as both she and her husband kept their eyes on the door.

"It's Ino, forehead! I have a fashion emergency and I need your help!" Ino's muffled voice came from beyond the door. Sasuke stood to open the door when the door clicked unlock. He turned to Sakura incredulous,

"You gave her the keys to our apartment?!" He whispered frantically. Sakura mirrored his wide eyed expression,

"No, I didn't?" Sakura denied as she shook her head in confusion. Together, they looked towards the door in horror as a frantic blonde barged in with tears of mascara streaming down her face. She spotted Sasuke and pointed a perfectly manicured at him,

"You, I need Sakura now!" She demanded as she walked over to the terrified couple. Sakura blinked in surprise at the finger that was now inches away from her face.

"Ino, I'm kind off busy at the moment. Maybe I'll head to your apartment in an hour's time?" Sakura tried to reason. Ino shook her head viciously, repeatedly hitting Sasuke in the face with her blonde locks. Sasuke sputtered and took a few steps backwards, well out of Ino's hair range.

"I've got no time, Sakura! I have a date in four hours, and I don't know what to wear!" The blonde wailed loudly. Sakura sighed,

"Ino, I kind of have a date tonight too. And I have a mask on at the moment…" She started but was quieted when a slender finger pressed itself on her lips.

"Please Sakura, I need your help. This guy could be the one and I'm super nervous! I need my best friend's presence to calm me down!" She pleaded desperately.

"Besides, you have a date with your _husband_! He couldn't care less if you showed up in your pyjamas!" Ino reasoned. Behind her, Sasuke nodded his head sagely; Sakura looked cute in her sleeping clothes…Since most of it were his old t-shirts anyways. Sakura sighed in defeat and turned apologetic eyes on Sasuke.

"It's fine. We'll make it in time, I promise." He assured her and she gave him a tight hug and whispered her thanks. Ino soon pulled Sakura away and back to her own apartment with Sakura clutching her bottle of nail polish; she might as well try to get the rest of her nails done while over there…

xxx

Sakura came back absolutely drained, there went her day of treating herself…At least her face felt smooth and her nails were fairly decent considering how chipped the previous colour was before Sasuke helped her out. She glanced at the clock and winced at how late she was… Maybe if she started the bath now, she'll have enough time for a quick dip of relaxation. But then again, no matter what Ino or Sasuke said, she'd have to find a suitable dress and that would take forever! Sakura sighed; maybe she should just take a quick shower instead…

She looked around the apartment; just where was Sasuke anyways? She shrugged and headed towards the bathroom and was pleasantly surprised that the bath had been drawn, she dipped her fingers in it, very recently too… Her favourite book and bath bomb had also been placed beside the tub. Sakura grinned and shrugged her clothes off before dropping the bath bomb into the warm water. She eased herself into the tub and sighed in relief as the warm water worked her muscles. The bathroom door opened and Sakura peered blissfully at her husband.

"Sasuke-kun, this is absolutely the best! Thank you so much, darling. But I have to get out soon if we want to make it on time for dinner." She apologised. Sasuke smirked as he picked up her discarded clothes,

"It's fine, Sakura. I managed to book a table for us tomorrow; hopefully you're not as busy." He explained. Sakura flashed him a grateful smile before a thought passed through her head and she sat up straight in shock, giving Sasuke an eyeful.

"What about tonight's dinner?" She cried out as Sasuke enjoyed the view. Sasuke blinked as he refocused onto his wife's words and not on her…erm…assets. He turned around before he could get distracted any further,

"Don't worry about it, Sakura. We're having takeout tonight." He told her simply. Sakura nodded as she eased back into the water.

"All I wanted today was to just treat myself, and now look what happened… You're the best husband a woman could ever ask for… Thank you so much, Sasuke-kun." She expressed gratefully. Sasuke chuckled,

"For today, let your husband treat you, okay? You deserve a treat anyways." He flashed a soft smile before he turned to close the door, leaving his wife a chance at privacy.

 _~Up next, Day 14~_


	14. Teamwork

A/N: I seem to be permanently late all the time now… hahaha? Enjoy!

 _Tinder: Dry wood or other combustible material used for lighting a fire._

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

* * *

 _ **Day 14: Tinder**_

* * *

Two pair of eyes kept a close watch on the hooded figure that sat at the bar. Green eyes turned their attention towards the food that came their way.

"Sasuke, the food's here." Haruno Sakura grinned widely as the waiter placed her bowl of udon in front of her. On the opposite side of the table, Uchiha Sasuke rolled his eyes,

"You do know that we have to keep our eyes on the target, right?" He whispered back but couldn't help his gaze being drawn towards her mouth-watering meal. She winked at him,

"Want a bite?" She offered him. He politely declined and instead took a sip of his tea. Sakura pouted slightly,

"You know that we need our energy to keep shadowing him, right? I bet he'd hear our stomachs grumbling from miles away." She explained before slurping her noodles; boy was she starving! Sasuke heaved a sighs he finally tore his eyes from the hooded figure,

"With how loudly you're slurping, I wouldn't be surprised if he heard _you_ from miles away." He chastised slightly before he directed her chopsticks to his mouth to steal a mouthful. She huffed slightly,

"I'm just a normal person eating a bowl of udon… Is anything out of the ordinary?" She challenged. Suddenly, she felt herself grow drowsy and her grip on her chopsticks slackened. In front of her, Sasuke swayed in his seat as well. _'Shit, we've been drugged.'_ Were the last thoughts that passed through their hazy minds before their heads slammed into the table.

xxx

Sakura was the first to wake up; the fire element inside her worked hard to get rid of the drug in her system. Her mouth felt dry and stuffed, like there were cotton balls inside it. Slowly, she blinked her eyes open and it adjusted instantaneously with the dim lighting. She took in her surroundings and realised that she was lying on the ground with her hands and feet bound in rope behind her in some kind of warehouse. She pushed herself into a sitting position to get a better look of her surroundings and a small moan to her left caught her attention. Her head whipped around to find that hr partner was still groggy on the floor; his eyes blinked slowly into focus. 'Oh good, he looks mostly unharmed.' She thought in relief before she turned back to studying her environment…

The air was rather dry and dusty; and from the dark shapes that she could make out around them, it looked like they were in some sort of a dry wood storage; shit, that meant that she had to minimise her ability if they needed to fight. She called forth some of her element, just enough to singe the ropes that bound her. Rubbing her sore wrists, she made her way towards where Sasuke laid.

"Sasuke-kun, you feeling okay?" Sakura asked tentatively as she got rid of his ropes. Sasuke groaned inaudibly,

"I blame the udon; I knew you shouldn't have eaten that." He growled out. Sakura scratched her cheeks,

"Yeah I should have focused more on the mission…" She whispered back sheepishly. Sasuke sat up and looked around,

"Where are we?" He questioned as he rubbed the fog from his mind. Sakura shrugged,

"The most I can make out is that we're in a dry wood factory… Maybe you can spread out your element and check for signs of life, Sasuke-kun?" She suggested. Sasuke nodded and spread his element of air out,

"It seems we're not the only ones here, Sakura. There are monsters here with us, the kind that Konoha has been fighting against…" He frowned and as soon as the words left him, they both heard groans coming from all around them. They both called forth their elements as they got ready for battle. Sakura tied her waist long hair into a high ponytail and Sasuke braided his. Sakura tested out her element and also screamed in surprise when instead of an elegant flicker, her flames caused a small explosion in her hands. Sasuke gaped at her,

"Sakura, you've been in the organisation for a while now, could you at least try to control your flames?" He pleaded as the monsters inched closer. Sakura held her arms up,

"It wasn't me! The dust in the air is somehow enhancing my fire! If I'm not careful, I'll blow this whole place up!" She moaned in despair as the monsters attacked. Sasuke nodded,

"Okay Sakura, just try to keep your fire to a minimum and we should be fine." Sasuke advised her as his air swiped at the monsters, cleanly slicing them into pieces. Sakura huffed as she wrapped her fists in flames,

"Kind of tough when all your element wants to do is roam free and burn everything it touches." Sakura grumbled under her breath as her fist connected with the monsters, killing them instantly.

Sakura turned around just in time before a jaw connected itself with her shoulder. She yelped in surprise and she punched the monster back and her fire exploded erratically. The monster landed into a small pile of tinder and a small fire started. Sasuke immediately created a vacuum around the flames and extinguished it; all while giving Sakura THE look. Sakura stepped backwards,

"It was a reflex! Besides, if you can do that-" She gestured towards the vacuum,

"-Why can't you do it if I burn the whole warehouse down?!" She exclaimed. Sasuke sighed,

"Do you want to suffocate to death? Because that's how we're gonna die if I use the vacuum." Sasuke elaborated. Sakura sighed,

"I sure wish you were a water elemental at the moment…" She pouted. Sasuke rolled his eyes,

"You know just as much as I do that you'll end up arguing all the time. Besides, a water elemental is useless here… The place is fucking dry." Sasuke stated as he concentrated on the monster in front of him.

"And stop attacking so violently, Sakura. You're gonna get us killed if you're not careful." He cautioned.

"Don't worry, my strikes are accurate!" Sakura boasted as she accidentally slammed a burning monster into a whole pile of tinder. Her eyes widened at the huge flames that started spreading rapidly,

"Oops, my bad." She breathed out. Sasuke glared at her,

"I'm so done with you." He grounded out as he casted a bubble of air around them; the monsters screeched in agony as the fire lapped at them. Sasuke concentrated on ventilating the air around them; so that they'd have clean air to breathe. At his side, Sakura was busy absorbing the heat from the air so that they wouldn't burn their lungs as they inhaled it. Together, they worked in sync to safely get out of the burning warehouse.

xxx

They made it out alive, all dusty from the soot and the smoke of the flames; their hair singed and significantly shorter too. They both collapsed onto the ground I exhaustion once they were a safe distance away from the fire.

"I hope you're happy…" Sasuke grumbled out as his element was stretched to the limit. Sakura grinned from his side,

"Hey, at least we made it out alive! I can't say the same for the monsters though…" She chirped and wiped the soot from her face only to spread it instead. Sasuke shook his head,

"How are we a team again?" Sasuke questioned to no one in particular. Sakura hummed,

"We're a team because air strengthens fire? Also, we're kind of stuck together since our element called out to each other; so get used to it, we'll be together for a very long time." She chuckled breathlessly. Sasuke sat up,

"I should have gotten an earth elemental instead… At least they'll be quiet." He murmured. Seriously, his fiery partner could sometimes be quite a handful. Sakura followed suit and sat up as well; she looped an arm around his torso,

"Nahh, they'll just be stubborn and fight your every word." She teased him. Sasuke wrapped his arm around her shoulders,

"I should at least get someone with better control of their elements…" He jested back. Sakura gasped at him in mock indignation,

"What are you talking about?! With me around, we're the best and hottest couple there is!" She grinned at him and they sat close to each other; watching the glowing embers of what used to be a warehouse. Sakura looked up at Sasuke,

"So, what about the guy we were tailing?" Sakura questioned innocently. Sasuke's eyes widened,

"Shit."

 _~Up next, Day 15~_


	15. Nap Time

A/N: Ehehe?

This is a continuation of Day 3, aka "Privacy, Heard Of It?"

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

* * *

 _ **Day 15: Take a Break**_

* * *

"- they turn ferocious, and that's why we don't use garlic on vampires. Do you understand, Sakura?" A silver haired young man told his pink haired student. Sakura nodded her head,

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei." She replied as she jotted down the information into her thick notebook which was rapidly being filled up. Hatake Kakashi's only visible eye closed in exasperation,

"Sakura, I told you not to call me sensei, it makes me feel old." He whined; damnit, he was only 7 years her senior! Sakura shrugged as she packed up her stuff,

"Well, it's a term of respect since you are teaching me…" She explained simply. Kakashi looked dejected before he took out his beloved book,

"I really can't hope to ask you to stop respecting me… That'll just cause me more problems and I have enough of those… Now shoo, you better get to Gai's class before he barges in here to challenge me again." He waved her off, his face already buried deep within his book. Sakura shook her head as she made her way through the door to her next appointment, how many times has he read through it already?

The agency had accepted her as one of them and was thrilled with the discovery of her telepathic abilities. They had promised to give her the necessary skills to deal with the supernatural entities and in return they would benefit from her using her telepathy to pick out the supernatural living illegally in the human world. Some of the benefits that Sakura received were a place to stay, self-defence training against the supernatural, knowledge of the supernatural, honing her mental skill and providing her with the necessary means to complete her medical studies. Although filled with good intentions, Sakura suddenly found her days filled to the brim with various activities… Every day, Sakura started her routine early in the morning only to end it very late into the night. Any leftover time was used solely to sleep, bath and eat; there was almost no time for her to relax! She wondered if she could ask for a change in the scheduling.

Kakashi was tasked to introduce Sakura to the world of psionic vampires, as well as other supernatural entities that the agency might encounter from time to time. It is her duty to learn more them so that she would have the necessary information; such as their attack patterns, weakness, habits and strengths; to take the right action against them.

xxx

"Another ten laps, Sakura! After that, Lee here will assist you in a fight simulation." Might Gai's passionate voice called out and Sakura could barely huff out a reply.

Her fitness training fell into the hands of Might Gai and his star pupil, Rock Lee. They were both in charge of getting Sakura fit for action. Working for the agency meant that Sakura is expected to be in chases and fights and her body needed to be in top condition for that. Her training included muscle and reflex training followed by learning how to fight and how to wield a weapon of her choice.

Sakura felt as if she was about to collapse onto the ground; her legs felt like jelly and her lungs burned for oxygen. Compared to Lee who looked like he was about ready to go for another 30 laps, Sakura felt like absolute shit. Sakura never thought herself to be unfit, but this was really pushing her muscles to the limit. Warm up started with twenty push ups and sit ups with three repetitions, a ten kilometre run at various speeds to build up her stamina and various other medieval tortures. Only after that was she allowed to train on different kinds of combat, from hand to hand to weapons. Gai came over and gave her a comforting pat on her shoulder,

"Don't worry, Sakura, we all start from somewhere. Look at Lee, he wasn't able to do this on the first day as well, he took two weeks!" Gai boasted and Sakura groaned inwardly, she had been here for a whole two months already! She casted a shadowed glance towards Lee who had started hand walking; what kind of stamina did he possess?! Gai followed her gaze,

"Keep up the good work, Lee! But we now have to train Sakura-chan! You'll have time to continue with training later!" He gave his pupil a thumb up and a bright smile. Lee looked towards them in surprise,

"Oh, of course Gai-sensei!" He saluted with a hand before he jumped back into a standing position. Sakura felt her energy drain as his enthusiasm increased. Lee took her hands in his,

"I apologise for inconveniencing you, beautiful Sakura-san! I'll run a hundred laps after your training to make up for it!" He declared with great energy. Sakura winced; that sounded horrible to her. She held her hands up,

"It's okay, Lee-san. You don't have to do that for me…I wasn't inconvenienced anyways." She tried to calm him down; she was grateful for the extra minutes of rest anyways. Lee shook his head and flashed his 'good guy' pose and Sakura knew there was no way she was going to win an argument with him. Perfectly lacking the level of enthusiasm the two of them possessed, Sakura got ready with round two of her training.

xxx

"You're late, Sakura!" Chocolate brown eyes stared sternly and Sakura bowed in respect of the honey blonde in front of her. Senju Tsunade was the current head of the agency and she had a temper to be feared.

"Forgive me, Shishou; there was an incredibly long line at the cafeteria." Sakura apologised. The voluptuous woman was about to start a lecture when Sakura produced a bottle of sake from behind her. Tsunade stopped short and an eyebrow rose,

"Since when did my disciple learn how to bribe? I certainly never thought you that… Was it that Kakashi?" She inquired but reached for the sake anyways. Sakura grinned; it was actually Hyuuga Hinata from Intelligence that shared the secret with Sakura when she was moaning about the lecture she'd gotten from Tsunade one afternoon. It wasn't Sakura's fault that training with Gai-sensei always ate into her lunch time…

Tsunade poured herself a cup of sake and sipped gratefully; Shizune was always taking her stash away! She turned her attention back onto Sakura,

"We're going to continue where we left off yesterday." Tsunade instructed and then stood. Sakura bowed and followed after her Shishou, towards the medical facilities of the agency. It wasn't necessary for Sakura to complete her medical studies after she joined the agency but she was adamant to finish it. Besides, the agency could use another doctor since the entities they were dealing with are usually dangerous. Granted, now she'd have to study various ways to treat toxins and injuries of the supernatural kind, but saving lives was something that she was passionate about. Sakura peered at the miasma that oozed from the patient in front of her; more than half of his body seemed to have decayed. Tsunade said that even at this state, it was still possible to save his life. Sakura slipped on her gloves and braced herself; well, time to save a life…

xxx

Sakura slumped against the wall, the treatment was complicated and took much longer to complete. Her precious free time was almost up and it was nearly time for her next lesson with Yamanaka Ino. Sakura trudged along tiredly; she didn't know how she was going to last her lesson with Ino… Much like her, Ino was a telepath as well, although Ino specialised in long distance telepathy and could communicate through it. Unlike Sakura however, who had constant access to it, Ino needed to concentrate to access her power. Even though her lessons were not physically straining, it required them to concentrate for long periods of time. Knowing her, Sakura knew that she'll fall asleep immediately as soon as she closed her eyes.

She passed an unoccupied dojo with its Shoji doors open and she stopped in her tracks; it wouldn't hurt to have a quick nap before meeting Ino, right? After all, Ino wasn't as strict with timing as Tsunade was… Sakura nodded decisively; yeah, she'll do just that. She sat crossed leg and leaned against the wooden wall and hoped to get some shut eye when she heard someone walk into the dojo. Sakura almost wailed out in despair; she should have shut the Shoji doors closed! She peeked through tired eyes and was surprised Sasuke staring back at her in confusion,

"Are you feeling alright?" He quizzed with a slight tilt of his head. Sakura nodded,

"I'm fine, Sasuke-kun, I'm just really tired, that's all." She replied as she gave him a quick once over. He was dressed casually in a hakama with a sword at his hip and a duffel bag in his eyes. Sakura widened her eyes in realisation,

"I'm so sorry, Sasuke-kun! I didn't know that you were using the dojo!" She apologised hastily and started to get up only to be stopped by a firm hand on her shoulder. Sasuke shook his head,

"It's fine, Sakura. You can rest in here for a while…If you don't mind me practising, of course." He stated and Sakura sat back down. She smiled at him,

"As long as you don't mind having me as an audience, Sasuke-kun." She teased and Sasuke smirked before he set his duffel bag next to her. Sakura leaned comfortably back onto the wall as Sasuke took his stance. He began and Sakura was instantly awestruck; his every move was precise and powerful. Yet, his movements were fluid like water flowing in the stream; his grace and agility was something that she could only hope to achieve. Like a snake's dangerous dance; Sasuke's every movement mesmerized her and she stared at him, almost in a trance. She never noticed how her entire body relaxed and her eyes slowly closing…

Sasuke finished a kata and turned towards Sakura, only to find her fast asleep. Her head tilted slightly to the side and her soft breathing could be heard. He shook his head, the edges of his lips slightly tilted upwards as he made his way to his duffel bag. He extracted his water bottle and took a sit beside her, as he took a break from his practice. Suddenly, there was a light thump on his shoulder and he looked down to find that Sakura had her head on it. Sasuke debated whether or not to shift her into a more comfortable position before he gave up; he wouldn't want to wake her up anyways…

From beyond the Shoji screen, Sasuke's keen ears picked up the familiar sounds of Ino who was calling out for Sakura. Her steps slowed as she neared the dojo and a soft knock on the Shoji door could be heard; Ino knew better than to disturb the Uchiha. The doors slid open slowly and the blonde peered in. Her baby blue eyes locked onto the pair and she gave a bright smile as she found the person of her search. Sasuke shook his head silently and brought a slim finger to his lips, Ino understood immediately.

"Hello, Sasuke. I was just looking for Sakura over there." She whispered gently with a small gesture at Sakura.

"I was hoping that maybe you could pass a message to Sakura for me?" She requested. Sasuke nodded his head and Ino took that as a cue for her to continue,

"You see, I'm a bit preoccupied this afternoon; so I wanted to cancel training with her for today." She explained. Sasuke nodded his head in agreement,

"Aa, I'll tell her that when she wakes up." He promised as he looked back down at the sleeping pinkette. She looked like she needed a break anyways… Ino grinned brightly at him,

"Great, thanks Sasuke-kun! You're a big help!" She expressed with two thumbs up before she slid the Shoji doors closed… a sly smile on her face. Wait till the other girls hear about this! The usually cold Uchiha had actually allowed Sakura to sleep on him! Well, leaned against him…But the small details don't matter! Grinning widely, she skipped down the hallway, leaving Sasuke and Sakura alone in the peace and quiet of the dojo.

 _~Up next, Day 16~_


	16. A Deed To Pay

A/N: Yeah. I skipped Day 17: Cards Against Humanity. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

* * *

 _ **Day 17: Entropy**_

* * *

The position of Student Body President was no easy feat; Uchiha Sasuke massaged his temples as he read the reports in front of him. _'Damn, who knew that he'd be found out so fast?'_ He thought in exasperation when he heard muffled shouting from the teachers' faculty a few rooms down… Just what was going on?

Konohagakure High School, aka Konoha High was a school that had a 30 percent delinquency rate. Why was Uchiha Sasuke, the second son of Police Chief Uchiha Fugaku there when he could have gone to a much better school? Well, if Sasuke was asked, he would reply that he attended Konoha High because it was rather near his home. He would then argue that Konoha High wasn't really that bad of a school after all since it maintained some of the highest academic results around. And lastly, the school provided him a good challenge to reduce the delinquency in the school seeing that he wanted to follow his father's footsteps in law enforcement; that was why he was the Student Body President anyways. And although slightly reluctant, his father had honoured his wishes anyways.

Coming back to the present, Sasuke stood in front of the teachers' faculty, the shouting blasted through the doors. Sasuke knocked on the door before sliding it open, the scene that greeted him was nothing out of the ordinary; a teacher admonishing a trouble student. What surprised him was the victim of the verbal abuse…

Haruno Sakura rolled on the balls of her feet, bored, as the teacher continued on about her blatant disrespect for him. Her wavy pink hair in side shave was tied up and it showed off the multiple ear piercings that swayed with her movements. The teacher stopped in his tirade to catch his breath. Sakura struck,

"Are you done yet, sensei? I've already told you that it wasn't me. Yet, here you are yapping your head off. If you have so much free time to scold me for something that I didn't do, why don't you use it wisely to find the real culprit?" She stated carelessly. The teacher turned red in anger, and he raised his hand,

"You little-" He started and his raised hand was suddenly swung in her direction. Sakura never flinched but stopped his hand instead before it struck her,

"Sensei, I would advise against physically assaulting a student." She told him, her green eyes staring intensely at him. She let go of his hand and turned around,

"I've enough of this; I'm not going to stand around any longer just so you could wrongly accuse me of something." She declared when suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed her by her pink hair.

"And I have enough of your disrespectful attitude and pink hair! I've told you many times to stop dyeing your hair! In fact, everything about you is against school regulations!" The teacher exclaimed as he yanked her backwards and she fell. He reached for the scissors on his desk with the intention of chopping her locks off when a firm hand stopped him. He turned to glare at the interruption, only to find the dark grey eyes of Uchiha Sasuke staring back at him.

"What do you think you're doing, Uchiha-kun?" The teacher asked angrily. Sasuke let go of the teacher's hand, after prying the scissors from it. He sat them down on another desk,

"Arai-sensei, I would like to know what Haruno Sakura has done to have angered you." Sasuke requested. The teacher let his grip and Sakura's hair slack and she immediately backed away, all the while soothing her painful scalp. Arai Toru gave her a glare before he shifted his attention back onto Sasuke,

"This troublemaker here vandalised my car yesterday evening, I'm sure of it!" He declared as he pointed a finger at her. Sakura rolled her eyes,

"I've told you so many times that it wasn't me. I wasn't even on school grounds after lunch hour." She argued. The teacher rolled his eyes,

"I remember very clearly that you're the only one that received punishment from me. If it wasn't you getting even at me, who else could it be?" He accused. Sakura heaved a sigh,

"Sensei, I wouldn't be surprise if another student did it… You aren't exactly the most well liked teacher around here, you know." She explained with a shrug. Sasuke agreed with her silently, Arai-sensei was notorious in dishing out the most outrageous of punishments. Arai-sensei fumed,

"I know it was you since you were the only one that wasn't at after school club activities! My car was fine before school before club activities; you must have vandalised it then!" The teacher insisted. Sasuke decided to step in then,

"Arai-sensei, then you have accused the wrong person. Haruno-san over here is not responsible for vandalising your car. I know this because I was out on an errand for the Student Body Council and I happened to pass by Haruno-san who was at the riverbank, far away from school. There is no way she could have come back to the school to vandalise your car and then back to the riverbank in the ten minutes that the errand took me. After all, it takes at least twenty minutes to even get to the school from there." Sasuke defended.

The teacher looked stumped at the Uchiha's words,

"Are you sure about that Uchiha-kun? Maybe you mistook someone for her?" He tried desperately. Sasuke thought back to the previous day, where he saw Sakura happily playing with a cat at the riverbank, she had even nodded at him in greeting when their eyes met. Sasuke smirked,

"I'm sure that it was Haruno-san; after all, it was easy to recognise her from her pink hair, you know?" He mentioned and the teacher slump his shoulders in defeat. Arai-sensei knew that the Uchiha was a responsible student; he wouldn't lie for a delinquent. He waved his hand at the pair in a shooing motion and Sakura was more than happy to get out of there. Sasuke followed her as the two of them made their way towards the door. Sakura turned around,

"Oh and Arai-sensei, my pink hair is totally natural. So could you please stop insisting otherwise?" She established before she disappeared beyond the door; leaving him in stunned silence. Sasuke bowed in respect before he shut the door.

Outside, Sakura turned to him and grinned widely,

"Thanks, prez! You really saved my hind back there! I owe ya one!" She declared as she bowed at him. He shook his head before he started walking down the hallway and she followed him,

"It's nothing, I just stated the truth. You weren't at school in the first place anyways." He shrugged. Sakura chuckled well naturedly,

"You know, you're a good guy. You don't judge people by appearances and that's a good quality to have there. Keep at it, and when you become a cop, it's going to get you far in life." She advised him with a pat on his shoulder.

"But you know prez… It's not good to hang around a delinquent like me. The teachers wouldn't want your academic life to suffer, you know? Influence and all…" She wiggled a slender finger at him. Sasuke chuckled softly, for someone who had one of the highest scores in the school; Sakura was not somebody to be taken lightly.

Suddenly, she yanked at his shoulder, effectively tumbling him to the ground. _'What the hell?!'_ Sasuke thought as he landed on the ground with a wince. He opened his eyes and was shocked to see Sakura punch the lights out of a male student who came at them with a sharp blade. The boy instantly crumpled to the ground unconscious and Sakura kicked the blade away. She whistled low as she spared their attacker a glance,

"Prez, correct me if I'm wrong; but was the attack meant for you? I mean, everyone in school knows not to mess with me… And he did aim that blade at you, after all." She evaluated with a slight frown. Sasuke thought back at the reports that he had received,

"I believe that it was meant for me, Haruno-san." He theorised. Sakura casted a confused look at him, she was about to ask when more students appeared along the corridor. They snarled at the pair and started running full speed at them. Sasuke inwardly groaned; this school was slowly sinking deeper into chaos…Sakura turned her head towards Sasuke,

"I don't suppose you know how to fight, prez?" She questioned as she got into a fighting stance. Sasuke nodded his head,

"I'm a black belt in both Judo and Karate… But the instructor always instructs us to use it only in self-defence." He told her. Sakura chuckled humourlessly as the first of the group of students reached them. She brought her knee into his abdomen before throwing his slumped form at another student,

"Uchiha, I'm pretty sure that this situation warrants for some self-defence from you!" She instructed as she ducked from a punch. Sasuke gave a quick apology before he started fighting back.

Twenty minutes, a heap of unconscious students around them and a couple of fresh bruises later, Sakura squatted in exhaustion while Sasuke leaned against a wall, both panting hard. She peeked around; funny there weren't any teachers around with such a loud commotion. Where did that obnoxious Arai Toru disappear to anyways? She gave up wondering about it before she turned her attention back to Sasuke,

"Uchiha, what did you do? I haven't seen such rage from the student gangs before… There was definitely more than one gang in the mob that attacked us." She quizzed as she gestured towards their fallen attackers. Sasuke pursed his lips; maybe she could help him with the situation before the school fell into pandemonium,

"I believe that those students might have been under an influence of some sort that causes them to be especially aggressive and adrenaline fuelled…Drugs probably." He informed her. Sakura tilted her head when she heard footsteps coming, _'Shit it's probably the teachers!'_ She thought and she hurriedly pulled Sasuke up. He gave her a confused look and she resisted the urge to sigh,

"We need to get away from here! It won't do both of us, especially me, any good if the teacher's find us here! Now, get moving, I know a quiet spot for you to explain in peace!" She whispered hurriedly, all the while pushing Sasuke towards the staircase. He relented.

xxx

"The roof?" Sasuke questioned as he looked around. Sakura shut the door close behind her,

"What? No one comes up here anyways…" She defended as she leaned against the railing, overlooking the school grounds. Sasuke joined her side and Sakura nudged at him with a shoulder,

"So, continue your story… You were saying that the students might be under the influence of drugs?" She urged him. Sasuke nodded his head,

"Aa, something that simulates adrenal production and triggers aggressiveness in someone; it's quite the complicated concoction… It isn't like the type you get on the streets where dopamine production or hallucination is simulated." He explained. Sakura nodded thoughtfully,

"That sounds like something that snake Orochimaru might have come up with…" Sakura started. At Sasuke's confused stare, she elaborated.

"Orochimaru is a member of the infamous university gang, Akatsuki. The group's aim is the total domination of the youths in the area… There are a few members that specialise in drug distribution but Orochimaru would be the one that cooks it up. Knowing that guy's sadistic tendencies, he'll make the after effects of the drug as painful as possible…" Sakura trailed off. She turned her gaze towards Sasuke,

"Wouldn't it be better if you notify the teachers?" She voiced out. Sasuke looked at her with a sceptic brow raised,

"You think the teachers in this school will do anything besides report to the police? It would be much better instead if I informed my father directly." He provided. Sakura nodded,

"Good point, they're pretty much useless. Okay, so why don't you report it straight to the Chief of Police then?" She inquired. Sasuke sighed,

"He'd want me to provide some sort of evidence first before he'd take any action. It can't be baseless accusations; he'll just say that the aggressiveness is just due to the raging hormones in a teenager's body. And you know that they can't make a minor take a drug test without some form of consent from the parents or solid evidence that a drug was taken…" Sasuke provided. Sakura looked at him curiously,

"And how did you come across this finding, Prez?" She inquired. Sasuke produced a letter from his pocket,

"I had an informant and he told me all about it when I suspected something was going on. But as soon as I try to reach back, he turned silent… I think that he was caught." Sasuke explained to her as Sakura quickly read through the letter. She looked up, the sky above them cloudy. A strong gust of wind blew and Sakura could smell the scent of rain,

"So you're working on a tip? Well, that's just great. How do you expect to gather more information when you yourself are so clueless about the workings of gangs?" Sakura thought aloud and Sasuke closed his eyes in frustration. It was silent between them for a while, when a bright idea struck Sakura,

"Why don't you infiltrate Akatsuki instead? Maybe you could gather evidence from the inside?" She provided. Sasuke shook his head,

"I thought you said that I was pretty clueless about the whole gang working?" He argued. Sakura turned to look at him fully,

"Yeah, you are. But I'm not! I could help you out with the infiltrating thing! I could get us in while you gather the necessary evidence!" She supplied excitedly. Sasuke shot her a bewildered look,

"It's too dangerous for you! You're a-" He started before Sakura shushed at him.

"What? Because I'm a girl?! You've got to be kidding me! Darling, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of the both of us! Besides, the fight with the horde of students just now? That was just workout for me!" She declared, mildly pissed. Sasuke placed his hands up as a gesture to placate her but Sakura ignored him to continue on,

"I'm sorry if the pink hair makes you think I'm sweet and fragile, but I have to admit that I'm the total opposite. I was raised in a dangerous environment like this whereas you had the shelter of your father's position as Chief of Police. " She explained with a tensed tone. Sasuke apologised,

"Are you sure, Haruno-san?" He inquired. Sakura nodded her head as she crossed her arms over her chest,

"Yeah, I owe ya one anyways. And it's my code to pay you back in full and more." She announced, her eyes gleamed with ferocity. Sasuke nodded his head,

"Thank you, Sakura." He offered and her face softened. She grinned at him,

"No problem, Sasuke." She replied with a hand held out.

"So, we have a deal?" She continued, expectantly looking at him. Sasuke stared at her offered hand before he shook it,

"We have a deal."

 _~Up next, Day 18~_


	17. Diversion

A/N: Sorry that it's a super late post! I'm so busy these few days. I hope you guys don't mind! Thanks and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

* * *

 _ **Day 18: He Said, She Said**_

* * *

"Get off me; I've got nothing to do with anything!" The pinkette screamed from across the station.

"What the fuck are you doing?! Get your filthy hands to yourself!" The raven haired youth snarled. The officers in charge of them sighed before escorting them to different interrogation rooms. A young officer, Uzumaki Naruto, who saw the entire exchange questioned his senior officer,

"Sir, just what happened?" He whispered lowly. The older officer, Jiraiya, spared him a glance before he sighed wearily as well.

"Listen kid, those two are Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, both from the yakuza houses of Dragon and Phoenix respectively." Jiraiya motioned for Naruto to follow him and they head to where Sakura was held.

"Last night, something happened and both clans were annihilated; the dead bodies of their members strewn across Shibuya district. Those two are the only survivors and that was because they were nowhere near the scene; which seems a bit suspicious... Naturally, they are being brought in for interrogation; The Dragon and Phoenix clan are amongst the most influential in the area after all, so we need to know just what caused the massacre." He explained as Naruto stared at the young woman behind the glass. Her pink hair was in disarray, scratches and bruises peppered her face and arms. She sighed wearily as she sipped on the water provided; Naruto turned towards Jiraiya,

"Who's questioning her?" He asked. Jiraiya turned and gave him a small smirk,

"Well kiddo, that would be you. Think of it as part of your training; I'll be out here in support." He pushed a file into Naruto's arm before he opened the door to the room; Sakura looked up in surprise. Jiraiya pushed Naruto in,

"Do your best." He whispered into Naruto's ear before he shut the door behind the blond.

Naruto gulped in nervousness as the pinkette eyed him suspiciously. Judging him with critical eyes, she gave a sigh and slumped into her chair in boredom when she deemed him harmless.

"You got the wrong person, you know? I wasn't even there when the fight happened!" She defended with her arms crossed in front of her. Naruto read the notes in the file and frowned slightly,

"That would be the weird thing, Haruno-san. If your clan was in a fight, then why weren't you at the scene? I'm sure that all clan members are loyal to the head of the house…" He explained. Sakura rolled her eyes,

"Listen, I am loyal to the boss. But I was out on an errand run when shit happened. By the time I got back, everyone was lying dead on the ground. I'm telling ya the truth." She explained with exaggerated arm gestures. Naruto nodded,

"Alright Haruno-san, I'll believe you, if you give me proof of your errand run." He instructed. Sakura gave a huge sigh before she reached for her purse in her bag. Naruto held out his hand in warning almost immediately; in case she was reaching for a weapon. Sakura huffed as she slowly withdrew her purse. Opening her purse, she produced a few crumpled receipts and tossed them across the table at Naruto. Naruto took a look at the receipts and nodded his head,

"I'm gonna have to hold on to this as evidence." He informed her and she agreed with a nod of her head. Naruto cleared his throat,

"Then, Haruno-san, do you have any idea why your clan clashed with the Dragons?" He asked her. She shrugged,

"Look officer, I have a low position within the clan, that's why I was out running errands. All I heard was that the Phoenix clan wanted to team up with the Dragons to defeat the Tigers. For all I know, the Tigers could have had a hand in this." She accused. Naruto looked at her in slight confusion,

"The White Tiger clan? But there was no trace of them at the scene?" He voiced out. Sakura exhaled,

"What do the police think the Tigers use as their insignia?" She asked him in a frank tone. Naruto thought deeply,

"The White Tigers are identified from the white and black striped bandanna that they wear?" He answered slowly. Sakura shook her head,

"You're right, but also wrong. The White Tigers have a three jagged cuts on their body, no bigger than a thumb. It's small so that the cops, you guys, won't be able to easily identify them. You should go check the bodies thoroughly…" She advised him. Naruto exhaled in shock before he glanced at the two way mirror, where Jiraiya promised he would be. He hoped that his mentor had informed the medical examiners of their findings…

"Thank you for your cooperation, Haruno-san. The police force is grateful for that information." He started as he stood and neatly compiled the files and notes. Sakura cocked her head to the side,

"Does that mean I can go now?" She asked innocently. Naruto frowned inwardly at the sight that she made; as she looked now, no one would have known that she was yakuza…

"I'm not sure, Haruno-san, I'll have to ask the captain first. But I'll let you know as soon as possible." He promised and she nodded, satisfied with his answer. Naruto opened the door and exited.

"Well done, kiddo! You could've done better but that was way better than an average rookie of your standards." He complimented. Naruto scratched his whiskered cheek,

"Thanks?" He muttered in confusion as they walked to the other side of the building where Uchiha Sasuke was being held for interrogation.

xxx

The sight that greeted him made Naruto thank the gods above; because while Sakura proved no trouble and had instead cooperated with him, Sasuke was making the officer, Hyuuga Neji's life as difficult as possible. The Hyuuga gritted his teeth as Sasuke refused to even acknowledge him and Jiraiya barked in laughter. The Captain of the precinct, Senju Tsunade glared at the white haired man. She shook her head and entered the interrogation room herself…

After an intense beating and being thrown around like a rag doll, the Uchiha finally agreed to cooperate as long as Tsunade wasn't in the room. She huffed and called Jiraiya in to take over. The older man came in and gave the Uchiha a wide grin,

"So, do you have a clue why are you here?" Jiraiya asked with a chuckle. Sasuke shrugged,

"I don't, actually. All I know is that my clan's murdered and the culprits are still out there!" He voiced out. Jiraiya shook his head,

"What makes you think that? Don't you know that the Phoenix clan is also dead alongside your clan? Don't you think that they could have attacked each other, only for it to end in a stalemate with everyone dead?" Jiraiya suggested. Sasuke shook his head vehemently,

"That's not true! The Red Dragons have the fiercest and best warriors. We wouldn't lose to just one clan. Besides, the boss said that he was going to join up with the Phoenix to defeat the Tigers! I'm sure that the boss is planning for retribution. He wouldn't be directly involved in any fighting, you know." Sasuke explained. Jiraiya sighed,

"Look kid, I hate to break it to you but, we found the bodies of one Uchiha Madara and one Shimura Danzo…" He reported quietly. Sasuke's eye widened,

"The bosses of Dragon and Phoenix are dead?" He breathed out in surprise.

"That can't be! They wouldn't have any reason to fight each other! They were just meeting up to discuss some plans. The common enemy was the Tiger!" Sasuke denied with his hands in his ebony hair. Jiraiya narrowed his eyes,

"Do you think someone leaked information of them meeting up to the Tigers?" He asked. Sasuke shook his head,

"I don't think so… But it would be a good idea since the bosses bring along the higher officers in the clan to those meetings… If that were the case, killing them all would mean that the clans would be struck at the roots. With the bosses gone, the rest of the members are free to go…" Sasuke theorised. Jiraiya nodded at his logic,

"That's quite true… Now Sasuke, where were you last night?" Jiraiya inquired. Sasuke raised an eyebrow in confusion,

"Why are you asking me that? Haven't I helped you with the investigation? Shouldn't you be after the White Tigers instead?" He demanded as he started to stand. Jiraiya held his hands up,

"Whoa, calm down Sasuke. You know that it's basic that we get all of our details covered. Don't want to miss anything, you know?" He disclosed. Sasuke stared at him in silence for a while before he gave up and sat back down. He crossed his arms and looked away from Jiraiya,

"I was at Ichiraku's last night. You can check the surveillance cameras there. I was called there but no one showed up…When can I leave?" He requested. Jiraiya shrugged nonchalantly,

"Probably in a while… after all, you did give us the information we needed." Jiraiya informed him, his hands searching through the pocket of his coat. Producing a card, he handed it to Sasuke,

"We'll keep in touch in case we require any more information from you, Uchiha Sasuke, so stay within the city, okay?" He instructed the male yakuza. Sasuke nodded and received the card in silence. Jiraiya couldn't help himself,

"So, what are you going to do now that you don't have a clan anymore? I mean, unless I could prove that you've done anything as a yakuza, I can't simply arrest you…or the Haruno girl in the other room for that matter…" He quizzed. Sasuke was in thoughtful silence,

"I'm not sure… It's all so sudden." Sasuke admitted with eyes that stared at nothing. Deciding that he had enough information, Jiraiya exited the room. He met Tsunade's sharp gaze,

"Their stories match up; their heads were definitely meeting up when the massacre happened. We can safely deduce that it was the White Tigers doing; they have the largest amount of members after all, so it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to say that they annihilated the two clans with some help… After all, the Dragons and Phoenix are not very well liked in the Yakuza world." Jiraiya started. Tsunade shook her head,

"But there should at least be some casualties from all sides, not just Dragon and Phoenix's…" She voiced out. Jiraiya thought for a while,

"Well, Haruno-san did hint that there might be White Tiger members amongst the dead… Maybe they dressed the same as the two clans as to confuse them? Or to lead us into thinking it was a feud between two clans and not the massacre by one?" Naruto proposed as he thought of his conversation with Haruno Sakura. Tsunade considered it,

"Okay, we'll investigate in that direction… There should be some evidence that the White Tigers were involved in this. In the meantime, let those two go; they've been here long enough and I don't think they had anything to do with last night's attack." She instructed and took her leave.

xxx

A hooded figure walked inside a warehouse by the docks after it determined that it wasn't being followed. In the darkness of the warehouse, it removed its hood to reveal the pink hair of one Haruno Sakura. Hands reached out to trap her in a tight lock; and she wanted to scream when lips crashed onto hers in a searing kiss. She pulled at the figure in front her, trying to get as close to it as possible. They broke apart after a while to catch their breath; both chuckled breathlessly. Sakura cupped her hands around his face,

"We did it; we got rid of the heads Sasuke-kun! I'm so glad Danzo is gone, his tyrannical rule was harsh on every one of us." She cheered softly as he pulled them to the back of the warehouse, into a dimly lit room. Sasuke smirked at her,

"They got what they deserved anyways; Madara was the one who killed my entire family. It's just right that I get rid of his too." He agreed with her and pulled her close. She snuggled against him,

"We're finally free from the Yakuza, with all ten fingers intact too!" She giggled into his warmth.

"I can't wait to start life anew, Sasuke-kun. We can finally live a normal life instead of one filled with bloodshed…"She trailed off and Sasuke looked down at her,

"What's wrong, Sakura?" He inquired with a slight nudge. Sakura shook her head,

"I was just thinking what great timing it was, you know? The Tigers wanted control on the Dragon and Phoenix's area. We give them what they want and we get to leave this life without any fear. I think that fate's on our side, that's all." She explained to him. Sasuke hummed in agreement when his watch beeped,

"It's almost time, Sakura. We get on the ship and we'll head towards Hong Kong and anywhere else we want to from then on. We have everything set overseas after all…" He pointed out and Sakura nodded her head in excitement.

"You sure the police won't miss us?" Sasuke questioned his lover. Sakura nodded as her gaze turned analytical,

"The White Tigers are known to keep their word. Besides, all trace of us ever having a hand in the planning has been erased. The police would be too busy investigating a lead that leads to nowhere. By the time the police even think of contacting us again, it'll be too long to question why we are even out of the country…" Sakura assured him as they made their way onto the docks, where a ship was waiting for them.

Fingers intertwined, they took the first few steps towards their new life.

 _~Up next, Day 19~_


	18. AfterLife

A/N: I've skipped Day 19: Mnemonic. Sorry 'bout that.

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

 _Trigger warning: Gore_

* * *

 _ **Day 20: Sacrifice**_

* * *

There once was a village set deep within the mountainous valley, it was a prosperous village… until the White Death plagued it. It was a dark night when the white mist rolled in and the villagers were none the wiser. The next morning, symptoms appeared on many of its inhabitants; black marks appeared throughout their bodies that started spreading and swelling as the day passed. The infected villagers were then subjected to excruciating pain from those marks as they popped and released pus that was mixed with blood that was almost black in colour. All known treatment was useless in the face of this new disease; and the infected were usually dead within days. The bodies were immediately disposed of by cremation before it totally liquefied. All that was known of it was that it was transmitted through bodily fluids and that there was no cure for it…

The mighty warriors of the Uchiha clan had been reduced to a single lone member. Uchiha Sasuke trudged throughout the town lifelessly; the White Death had robbed him of his family. He had stayed by his parents and brother's side while they were moaning in pain until their final moments. Sasuke wondered dully at the irony of him not being infected even though he was in close contact with his family; wouldn't death feel that much better now that the most important thing in the world had been taken from him?

He stopped in his tracks when he saw a procession of the village's high priests, priestess and remaining villagers leading a girl not older than eighteen into the forest deep into the mountains. The girl had her head down in silent resignation as her parents wept tears of sorrow beside the palanquin that she was being transported on. Sasuke shook his head sadly when he recalled the ceremony they were practicing; the village elders had decided that they were going to sacrifice a girl in order to please the God of Fortune. They had hoped that the God of Fortune will be pleased with the sacrifice and then turn their misfortune into fortune. Sasuke knew that the sacrificial ritual wouldn't work at all…

Two weeks later with no change in the situation save for more villagers succumbing to the White Death, the village elders figured out what went wrong. They had prayed to the wrong deity; instead, they should have focused on the Goddess of Health and Wisdom. It was then that they decided that they needed another sacrificial offering… The goddess, they had assumed, would prefer a male offering instead of a female offering. The villagers turned their sights onto the last Uchiha. Sasuke would make the perfect offering; he was incredibly good looking and smart as well. The best part of him being the sacrifice was that he wouldn't leave behind a mourning family like the last sacrifice had…

Although Sasuke was initially pissed that he had been chosen as the sacrifice due to the fact that he was an orphan, he knew that it was probably for the best. If he was sacrificed, none of the other family had to suffer losing their loved ones. Additionally, he was well and truly alone in the world; in his mind, his death would be one of peace as he would be reunited with his family and clan. He just hoped that the White Death would be stopped with his death…

For the week before the ritual was help, Sasuke was taken into the temple where he was required to meditate daily and bath in the sacred pool to cleanse his very body and soul. At last, it was time for the ritual to begin. Early in the morning, Sasuke bathed in the waterfall behind the temple. Once he was out, he was clothed in only a simple white cotton yukata. Then, Sasuke was escorted onto the palanquin before he was transported high up into the mountains; the sacrifice must be as clean as possible, so his feet is prohibited from touching the ground once he had donned on the yukata.

It was cold that high up in the mountains and Sasuke was transported to what seemed like an altar was a thick log set vertically upwards in front of it. The body of the girl sacrificed before him hung from the log and the priestess worked together to untie her from the log before they tossed her body right off the mountain. Then, the priests and village elders secured Sasuke onto the log with ropes so that he wouldn't escape once they took their leave. Sasuke almost rolled his eyes at the idiocy of it all; there was never any evidence that sacrificial offerings to the god ever worked. The most logical thing to happen was that he was going to either die of starvation of freeze to death. He casted a side glance to where the girl's body had been tossed; he hoped that whatever that got to him, it would be quick…

The ritual lasted for almost an hour before Sasuke was left alone in the chilly mountain. He took in the sight in front of him; the sacrificial ground was set near a cliff so that it overlooked the mountain ridges. The view was breath-taking; this high up in the mountain, Sasuke could see the white clouds below where he was suspended. The rising sun from beyond the sea of clouds casted an extraordinary rainbow of hues on the clouds and for a brief moment, Sasuke was enveloped in the feeling of total peace.

Then, the wind started picking up and was growing stronger by the minute. The once white clouds turned grey in colour and started rolling like the waves of the sea. The temperature dropped further and Sasuke could hardly feel his fingers and toes at this point. Lightning started flashing and the thunder boomed powerfully; Sasuke stared in awe at the sudden change in weather. He felt the wind whirling around him and saw that the clouds were being sucked into the vortex where he was in the middle of. Lightning flashed dangerously close and Sasuke closed his eyes; he braced for the incoming strike…

xxx

Everything stopped all at once and Sasuke cautiously opened his eyes. He found that he was sitting on top of a desk? He stood up slowly to look around and he found that his hands weren't bound together anymore; the same went for his feet. He cautiously started walking and tried to figure out just where he was. He was in a plainly decorated room, there were bookshelves filled with books to his right, to his left, there was a long table where many medical apparatus had been set up. All in all, it looked like any ordinary room, except for the fact that everything in it was at least a hundred times bigger than he was. A feminine voice called out,

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, mortal. Please, do look where are you going." The voice advised him. Sasuke stopped short and looked down to where a foot was raised up; he had almost walked straight off the edge of the desk. He immediately took a few steps backwards and he heard a feminine chuckle. He tried to find the source of the voice,

"Where the hell am I? How did I get here from the mountains?" He asked aloud as he turned this way and there. Sasuke heard what seemed to be click of a tongue.

"Really, you mortals are so curious about everything. It makes me wonder how your species had not died out yet…" The voice mused. It was then that Sasuke saw her. She sat in a chair with her legs crossed; her head rested itself on her fist that was placed on the armchair. Her bright green eyes studied him intensely as her pastel pink hair flowed around her like silk in water. She gave him a smirk when he fell in surprise; she was very much larger than he was. While he was but a speck on the desk, it seemed to fit her height and size almost perfectly.

"A-Are you the Goddess of Health and Wisdom?" Sasuke whispered in awe. It would be the most logical thought when he was after all, sacrificed to her. She grinned and moved forward,

"Yes. And who might you be, mortal?" She inquired her voice like wind chimes in a gentle breeze. Sasuke gulped,

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I was sacrificed to you in hopes that you may rid my village of the White Death that has plagued it for almost two moons now." He introduced himself with a slight bow. To his surprise, the goddess frowned at his words,

"Sacrificed? Why in the world would your village think that I'll help them by sacrificing you?" She wondered, anger lacing her sentence. Sasuke shrugged in confusion and she slammed her fist on the desk. It reverberated with such force that Sasuke was sent onto his butt again. The goddess realised her mistake with a muttered 'oops'. She then stood up and took a step towards the table when she disappeared in a shower of Sakura petals; only to reappear in front of him on the desk, smaller in size now. She held out her hand to help him up and he accepted it. When they stood facing each other, she was mortified to find that she was at least a head shorter than him.

"Damn my human form… Why is it so short anyways?" She muttered grumpily as she paced to and fro. Finally, once her little tirade was over, she turned back to face him,

"Sasuke, was it?" She started and he nodded in affirmation. She continued,

"Doesn't your village priest or elders know that you don't sacrifice a life to the Goddess of Health and Wisdom? Doing so is pretty much against my principle? If they wanted my help, they could have just planted a Sakura tree? Really, the practice of human sacrifice is really frowned upon by us deities, you know? I have half the mind to send you back just to give them a scare!" She ranted in disbelief. Sasuke placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder and she whirled around instantaneously,

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?" She addressed him in confusion. He looked away,

"Does that mean you can send me back if you wanted to?" He asked with a tilt of his head. Sakura's eyes softened at him,

"I'm sorry, dear. But that's not how it works. From where you came from, you are already dead. It's just your…soul, if you will, that transcended into the heavenly realm." She explained gently. Sasuke was silent for a while,

"So that means that all humans will arrive in this realm when they die? How did I appear in front of you? Do all of us appear in front of you when we die?" He fired. The goddess held her hands up to slow him down,

"Whoa there, slow down with the questions! Let's see… The humans that get to reach this realm are those whose souls are light enough; that means that they aren't being held down by any grief, hatred, greed or sins from their previous lives… something like that anyways…" She trailed off before she shook her head,

"Anyways, to answer your next two questions; no, people who get into this realm do not end up in front of me… They are sent to Tsunade-Shishou; there, the dead get to decide if they want to head to the Wheel of Reincarnation or live in the heavenly realms until they are forced to reincarnate." She continued patiently as Sasuke nodded in understanding.

"You, however, had a ritual done on you, it technically sent you straight to where I am the moment you died. Imagine my surprise when you suddenly appeared on my desk; I was in the middle of finishing my report!" She laughed with a slap on his back. He stumbled a few feet forwards and Sakura looked at her hand in surprise,

"I'm sorry! I'm still getting used to being this small!" She apologised profusely as Sasuke righted himself. He shook his head at her; were all gods and goddesses this friendly, or was it just her?

"So, can you help my village? Many have died from the White Death, my family included, and I would like to stop it soon…" He requested. The goddess sat on a giant brush nearby and looked thoughtful,

"You know what's weird? If anything like that happened, I would have received a report about it and I will then send the required knowledge to the doctors in the village affected deal with the disease… Yet, I have yet to receive any report on this 'White Death' that you speak off." She explained, her eyes filled with worry. She tapped her chin,

"Perhaps you could explain the disease to me?" She instructed. Sasuke nodded his head and took a seat beside her before he began explaining the disease to her; he had a close contact with it after all…

"That sounds like something Kabuto would do…" She murmured. Sasuke cocked his head to the side,

"Who is Kabuto, goddess?" He questioned. The goddess sighed and played with the ends of her flowing hair,

"Kabuto used to be my apprentice. I fired him after I found out that he had a nasty habit of spreading diseases without my knowledge. He loved to spread plagues in particular; like your White Death for example…" She informed him. Sasuke nodded slowly,

"So, what happened to him?" Sasuke quizzed. The goddess shrugged, letting go of her hair,

"Well, he was supposed to be escorted down to the lowest realm of the underworld as punishment… But he escaped and is currently hiding somewhere in the human realm. He probably passed by your village and had a little 'fun'. He probably used magic to conceal the village from me; no wonder I didn't receive any report from the human realm…" She told him. Sasuke plucked a strand of the bristle from the brush.

"So, would you still help my village, goddess?" He asked; he twirled the bristle in his hands. She crossed her arms in front of her and nodded her head, her pink hair floating along with her movements,

"Of course, it is my duty as the Goddess of Health and Wisdom after all. So don't you worry about it. Now, I have no idea what to do with you..." She informed him,

"You were sent straight to me; that means you belong to me. What should I do with you? What can you do for me? I could use another apprentice to share my skills and knowledge, but you don't seem like the studious type…" She gave him a once over. Sasuke looked away; the tips of his ears blushed red. The goddess noticed and gave a sly smirk; she might have some fun with him… Suddenly, something in Sasuke caught her eye and she stared harder at him, judging his soul,

"Oh, you have a warrior's spirit in you, Sasuke-kun." She announced in surprise. Sasuke looked at her with an eyebrow raised. She nodded to herself,

"Yes, yes. I could do that…" She muttered. Sasuke placed a hand on her shoulder,

"What do you have in mind, goddess?" He questioned. She turned to him and gave him a bright smile,

"You could be my warrior! I'll send you to Kakashi, the God of War for training. With enough training, and I'm fairly certain that you'll have it down in no time; you could go after Kabuto and bring him down! How's that for a plan?" She cheered very much proud of herself. Sasuke looked mildly astonished,

"Isn't it better to send other more god-like warriors after him?" He questioned. She shook her head,

"You used to be mortal and that means that you could enter the mortal realm for an indefinite amount of time. We gods can only enter the mortal realm for a short amount of time; that's hardly anybody would get to see us. Also, I'll be able to personally teach you all of Kabuto's tactics that I'm familiar with. Together with Kakashi's training, you'll be able to defeat Kabuto in no time at all!" She quipped as she stood and brushed down her own kimono. She began walking towards the edge of the desk and Sasuke followed her,

"Why are you so certain that I'm able to defeat him, goddess?!" He called out after her. She turned back and gave him a mischievous look,

"Do you know that if one were to stay here long enough, even someone who used to be mortal can attain godhood? Those who were sacrificed would have to live in this realm for the rest of their existence, you know?" She explained with a wave of her hand.

"And what does that have to do with me?" Sasuke asked flabbergasted. Just where was the goddess going with all of this? Sakura smirked,

"See here, Sasuke. I took a look into your soul and it seems that you were destined to come into the realm of the Gods. Sasuke, you're probably going to be a God of Justice and Strength in a thousand years' time or so. Consequently, catching Kabuto would only be the first step of your journey." She finally revealed. Sasuke stopped in his tracks. Nuts, she was completely nuts. Sakura huffed,

"I'm sorry if you think otherwise, but I am very much able to hear your every thought. So if you would just do me a favour and believe in me that would be very nice…" She reprimanded him as she waved a stern finger at his direction. He nodded,

"I'm not saying that you are absolutely going to be a God, Sasuke. You just have what it takes to be one. It doesn't mean that you'll automatically win against Kabuto in a fight; you'll have to work hard for it…" She warned him.

"Uchiha Sasuke, I want you to be my right hand man. You shall train hard to defeat all that go against me. Are you willing to do that?" She asked with a spark in her eyes. Sasuke's jaw clenched,

"This Kabuto, he was the one responsible for my family's death?" He asked the goddess. She nodded a grim smile on her face. He smirked,

"Then I shall accept your offer, goddess." He bowed low. Sakura chuckled and lift his face upwards with her fingers,

"Good. Then your first assignment is to address me with my name, Sakura."

 _~Up next, Day 21~_


	19. Love Letters

A/N: This is kind of linked to SSMonth15's Boarding School Au :) Someone requested a protective Sasuke… So, tadaa? Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

* * *

 _ **Day 21: Anonymous**_

* * *

Haruno Sakura wiped the sweat from her forehead as she chugged down nearly half her bottle of water. The female and male students had been separated for gym; and the girls had just finished an intense game of basketball. Ino slumped down onto the bench next to her best friend and gestured towards Sakura's bottle who handed it to her wordlessly. Sakura dug through her gym bag in search for her watch when her fingers came in contact with an envelope. Curious, she pulled it out; on the top of the envelope wrote _'To Haruno-San'_ in perfect cursive letters. Ino peeked around Sakura,

"What is it, forehead?" She questioned as her baby blue eyes sparkled in excitement. Sakura shrugged,

"I'm not too sure… It seems important though. I mean, the envelope itself is pretty expensive looking…" She replied her blonde friend as she carefully opened the envelope to reveal a pink card inside. Ino waited patiently as Sakura took the card out.

 _"_ _My dearest Sakura, you are the moon to my dark nights and the author of my dreams. I love you."_

Sakura read what was written on the card aloud. Ino 'oohed' at the sentence before she latched onto Sakura's shoulder in hardly concealed excitement,

"Wow that was super romantic! Does it say who was it that sent you the card?" Ino inquired as she bounced on the bench. Sakura turned both the envelope and the card this way and that. She shook her head,

"Unfortunately, it doesn't tell me who is it from." She sighed dejectedly just as Prefect Secretary Hyuuga Hinata and Karin made their way towards the two best friends.

"What's going on, girls?" Karin called out, her flaming red hair in a high ponytail. Ino turned to them and clasped her hands in front of her,

"Sakura here got a romantic letter from a secret admirer! Isn't that just so romantic?!" She gushed and Sakura tried to calm her down. Karin plucked the letter from Sakura's hands,

"Don't you think it's the Uchiha who sent it to you?" She quizzed as she inspected the letter thoroughly. At the mention of Sakura's boyfriend, Hinata nodded,

"Maybe it was Sasuke-san who wrote this… The content of the letters sound very intimate after all." She pointed out and the Ino and Karin nodded their heads in agreement. Sakura shook her head,

"I don't think so; Sasuke-kun isn't really the type to do something like this…" She rationalised before she added _'he's much too shy'_ in her head. It was then that the school bell rang; the girls decided to put the incident to the back of their heads, at least until they had more time to ponder over it.

xxx

"Alright class, we'll be having a pop quiz today!" The teacher announced cheerfully as the students groaned in unison. Sakura opened her pencil case to grab a pen when she noticed a small origami star in it. Curious, she opened it up, only to softly gasp in surprise as she read the contents.

 _"_ _Dearest Sakura, you are the epitome of Spring; so delicate and pure. I would love to envelope my arms around you to keep you safe from danger."_

Her pink brows furrowed and the edges of her lips tilted slightly downwards. This just confirmed that it wasn't Sasuke sending; this wasn't his speech…She heard the teacher coming towards her and she quickly scrunched the paper up before slipping it into her pocket of her skirt. She'll have to find a way to deal with her mysterious admirer as soon as possible…

xxx

The lunch bell rang and a group of students came up to where Sakura was seated,

"Sakura-san, thank you so much for your baking tips! My family absolutely loved the cookies that I made this time around!" A girl grinned widely.

"Haruno-san, thank you for resolving the conflict between the baseball and tennis club before things got too out of hand!" The captain of the tennis club bowed. There was chatter around her and Sakura couldn't find any excuse to politely get away from them. Luckily, she didn't have to…

The crowd suddenly parted as they felt an intense aura; like the sea Moses parted, Uchiha Sasuke strode confidently towards Sakura and Sakura felt an urge to laugh out loud at the image before her. Sasuke stopped in front of her; the chatter around them died down as everyone silently looked on,

"Sakura…" Sasuke started in his deep voice and a few students swooned, guys included. Sasuke offered a hand which Sakura gratefully took,

"Let's have lunch before we start patrolling." He suggested as he pulled her up from her seat. She shot him a grateful smile as they made their way towards the cafeteria; leave it to Sasuke to come to her aid. They got their meals and sat at their usual table; some of their friends already there. The Head Prefect, Uzumaki Naruto waved at them from where he was slurping a big bowl of steaming ramen. He swallowed,

"Hey, guys! I was wondering what took you so long!" He exclaimed brightly while beside him, Hinata politely took small bites out of her own meal. Sakura waved back and took a seat on Naruto's other side. Naruto gave his two prefects a look,

"So, how's the investigation coming along? You found the source of the distribution yet?" He inquired as he waved his chopsticks in the air. Sasuke shook his head,

"Kawata Hiro and his gang never received from the source itself. We found that many of the students had unknowingly became mules for the substance to be passed around. We're currently tracing it back to the source… but there is suspicion that the Chemistry teacher, Orochimaru, might be the mastermind behind all of this." Sasuke explained in a lowered tone and Naruto nodded in understanding. Hinata decided that the cafeteria wasn't the best place to be discussing confidential information; so she changed the subject,

"Sakura-san, did you figure out who was it then sent you the letter? Was it Uchiha-san who sent it?" She tilted her head to the side in curiosity. Sakura shook her head as Sasuke stared at her in surprise,

"No, I still have no clue as to where those letters came from. However, I can tell you for certain that it wasn't Sasuke-kun who sent them." She explained. Naruto held up his hand,

"Wait a moment Sakura-chan. What are you talking about? What letter? What does it have to not do with the teme over her?" He gestured towards Sasuke who nodded in agreement. Sakura bit her bottom lip,

"Well, I found a letter addressed to me hidden in my bag during gym period… and the sender is anonymous." She brought out the letter for them to have a look through. Hinata pushed forward,

"How do you know that it wasn't Uchiha-san who sent it to you?" She quizzed. Naruto, who had read the content of the first letter blanched at his girlfriend's question,

"Hinata-chan, I can't imagine the teme writing such sweet words! Gahh, the horror! I don't want to imagine it!" He wailed which earned him a bonk to the head from the Uchiha himself. Sakura decided to ignore Naruto for a while,

"I'm certain that it isn't him… Because I received another letter; in my pencil case this time, right before the pop quiz started." She answered Hinata as she produced the crumpled paper from her pocket. Sasuke reached for the letter and quickly read through it. He frowned at the nature of it then turned towards Sakura,

"You're not so delicate that you need me too wrap my arms around you for protection." He voiced out. Sakura clasped her hands together in front of her,

"Right?" She agreed with him. Naruto snatched the paper from Sasuke's grasp. He and Hinata peered over it, only for Naruto to make a face of disgust. Hinata looked at Sakura,

"Doesn't it feel a bit creepy? I mean, it's like he has access to your belongings and all. Plus, the second letter feels even more private than the first…" She voiced her concerns. Sakura stared ahead in determination,

"I'll catch him in the act and I'll put a stop to this. It feels weird that my privacy can be violated like this… I don't like it." She admitted as she wrapped her arms around herself. Sasuke placed an assuring hand ono her shoulder,

"I'll help you as well as I can, Sakura." He promised and she nodded in appreciation. Glancing at her watch, she was shocked to see that almost twenty minutes had passed by. She started taking large bites of her sandwich and Naruto looked at her curiously,

"What's the rush, Sakura-chan?" He asked concern clear on his face. Sakura gestured towards her watch,

"Sasuke-kun and I have patrols today. We have only a few minutes left before it starts!" She informed him as Sasuke started chowing down on his rice beside her. Naruto laughed nervously, the Disciplinary Group took their jobs quite seriously…

xxx

A few days passed by uneventfully as Sakura and Sasuke failed to catch her elusive admirer. She only found more notes in her shoe locker, in between the pages of her textbook and even her locker. The notes were progressively getting creepier and more intense. Her 'admirer' talked about his undying love for her, how much he would sacrifice for her and other bullshit. The final straw was when she was checking out a book in the library when a note fell from its pages. Sakura freaked out and immediately rounded the corner of the bookshelves in search of the culprit; he might have just slipped it in after all… But there wasn't a single person that was close enough to her. She stared at the book nervously, it seemed like her stalker knew her better than herself.

It was the day after that Sasuke noticed the dark circles around Sakura's eyes. She had trouble sleeping since she was paranoid that her stalker might appear at her window of her room or even creep silently into her room as she slept. Concerned, Sasuke sent his girlfriend to the nurse's office for some much needed sleep while he continued with their patrols. Sakura had fought against it before her need for sleep overpowered her paranoia. Sasuke had even assured her that he'll be back soon, besides, the nurse was there in case anything happened. The nurse had a matter to attend to and she left Sakura alone in the office. Fast asleep, Sakura never noticed the figure that sneaked into the room…

Sasuke was patrolling the halls when goose bumps appeared on his arm. Caught unaware, he stopped and immediately headed towards the nurse's office where Sakura was. He fervently hoped that she was safe…

The curtains that surrounded the bed were pushed aside, revealing Sakura's sleeping form. The figure grinned,

"Oh, Sakura. You look so beautiful lying there… How I wish to wake up to this sight every morning." A male voice whispered. He pushed a strand of her pink hair away from her face and she frowned in her sleep. The figure chuckled,

"Here you are, so defenceless. You really need someone to protect you, someone like me who will devote everything to you. Not like that wolf of yours… The Uchiha has his own work to do; he has no time for you…" He smirked. The figure bent forward, his eyes closed and his lips puckered. His lips were about to touch hers when a hand grabbed him at the shoulders and stopped him short. He opened his eyes in shock and met angry green eyes; Sakura pushed as hard as she could from where she laid on the bed, and sent him stumbling through the curtains and into the wall.

Her stalker curled up from the pain that spread throughout his body. Sakura whipped the blankets from her and snarled in his direction,

"Stay away from me! Who the hell are you anyways?!" She yelled at him. He uncurled and sent a lecherous smile from under his brown hair in her direction,

"The name's Abe Yuuto, my precious Sakura. It was me who sent you those love letters." He confessed as he rubbed his shoulders. Sakura stood up and got into a stance,

"Well, can you stop that? It's extremely uncomfortable, and I would like you to stay away from me." She scolded him. Yuuto shrugged as he stood up too,

"It is my freedom of speech, is it not? It is but my declaration of love for you, precious Sakura. There is no such rule in the school handbook that says I am prohibited from sending you letters of love!" He declared as he charged towards her. Sakura was about to stop him when a foot swiped at Yuuto's leg from beneath him. Yuuto stumbled and fell face first into the floor. Behind him, Uchiha Sasuke pulled his arms back and placed a firm feet on Yuuto's back.

"I'll be sure to change the rules inside the school handbook as soon as possible then." Sasuke snarled into Yuuto's ear. He tugged at Yuuto's arm which caused the poor boy to whimper in pain,

"I beg of you, Uchiha! Spare me!" Yuuto pleaded pathetically; snot and tears messed up his face. Sakura kneeled in front of Yuuto and lifted his chin with a finger,

"He'll let you go when you promise to never harass me or anyone like that ever again. Are we clear?" She instructed. Sasuke tightened his grip on Yuuto's arms,

"That's too light of a punishment. He should have his arms broken so that he wouldn't write disgusting shit like that anymore." He growled out. Sakura shook her head,

"No, let him go once he promises. I have the perfect job for him." She schemed deviously; her eyes sparkled with uncontained glee. Yuuto whimpered at the she-devil that was in front of him,

"I promise to never do anything like this anymore. Please, I'll do anything for you! Just tell the Uchiha to let me go, I can't feel my arms anymore!" He cried. Satisfied, Sakura nodded her head at Sasuke who reluctantly let him go. He rubbed at his arms,

"What do you need me to do?" He voiced out nervously. Sakura smiled widely,

"Based on personal experience, you have quite the skill in sneaking around… From now on, you'll be working directly under Sasuke and I. We want you to use your skills to spy on a certain Chemistry teacher, Orochimaru. Think you can do it?" She proposed. Eyes wide, Yuuto could only nod his head in affirmation. Sakura grinned at him,

"Don't think you can escape though. Once we've seen you, Sasuke and I would be able to find you, Yuuto, wherever you may be." Sakura promised. Yuuto gulped before he scurried away. Sasuke helped Sakura out,

"When did you plan all this?" He asked as he visibly checked her for injuries. Sakura brushed her skirt down,

"Just only, really. Well, he was really good at sneaking around. We couldn't even find him, you know?!" She cried out as she waved her hands in the air. Sasuke caught her hand and inspected the fingers that she used to lift Yuuto's chin,

"You might want to get that disinfected, Sakura." He advised her. Sakura laughed before she pulled him into a hug.

 _~Up next, Day 22~_


End file.
